Davis Vision

[beths]

Is anyone a provider for Davis Vision? My experience with Spectra was a nightmare. Is Davis any better?

[GOS_Queen]

We're not providers for Davis but I'd be very interested to know your experience with Spectera ...

[Grubendol]

We're Davis here. I don't think I'd recommend it, unless you have a really high concentration of Davis plans in your area.

[cocoisland58]

We are providers for Davis but only for one particular employer. I don't know why but that is the way it was set up. Fine with me as we can use our own lab. If it wasn't just the one plan and we had to use their lab I am positive we would not continue to provide services. We are a Spectera provider for all plans. If you really look closely at the payments and sell accordingly you can do just fine with them. We don't have to use their frames or lab either so that helps.

[Grubendol]

The lab is one of the biggest problems. They are so slow.

[Bill West]

....I don't. I have more time to devote to "paying customers" and have all the business I want. I don't even have to go into the nightmare problems caused by these plans. To each his own.

[Bill West]

if NOBODY accepted this crap it would not exist.So who's really to blame here? Could it be that they prey on the ones who will try anything for a buck?

[Jubilee]

We are a Davis Provider.

They are similar to Spectera, as in they manufacture their own glasses.
We have not had the same amount of problems as we did with Crown labs (we dropped specterra a year ago, but retained most patients)

An order from Davis can come in as little as 3 days, or as long as 3 weeks. They do seem to have a relatively high redo rate, but also if you use plan materials and labs, provide a one to two year no questions asked warranty, depending on which plan it is.

The tower collection is getting better, now that they are mixing it with some of ViVa core, just many are rebranded or styles no longer available through the normal distribution channels.

Davis has been very profitable for us. The number of Davis patients we see from one plan alone is enough for the doc to pay our office salaries.

Many of the plans in our area are great values for the patient. Especially when the employer is covering all the costs for the member! We tell our patients that Davis is an excellent plan to save you money, however, they do this by processing all the materials themselves, and it can take up to 3 weeks to process the order. We tell them this on the phone when we make the appointment and verify insurance, and again when we are selecting the eyewear. Most of our patients tell us the wait is worth the savings.

I have never had Davis not make a situation right. However, It may have taken them 2-3 times to get it right.

Cassandra

[a1vo]

We are not w/ Davis b/c the liability ins required by Davis is 3x higher than others. But we r interested to know more about Davis.

Do they also use Crown Lab? or some other labs? Can someone post the Lab name(s) here?

Do they allow "non-covered" frame (similar to Spectera)? or some other ways?

Thank you in advance for the info.

[Jubilee]

They use their own Labs. The orders we receive back just states Davis Vision. There was an article late last year talking about their recent expansion, and added services.

As far as allowing for non plan frames. There is some allowances. Some plans (fedex) allow frames up to $115 retail, and higher. Others list a piddly wholesale frame allowance of $17 (Chrysler). On the tower itself, they have 3 levels of pricing with Fashion (yellow), Designer (red), and Premium (blue) tags. Some plans allow for any frame.. others they have copays for going to a higher frame level. Same for AR. Some plans offer only one (standard think Zeiss SET 0r Reflection free) AR coating, and others allow for 3 levels with a Crizal or Carat coating, and the upgraded Alize or Carat Advantage coatings.

Some plans also offer multiple pair pricing. Those who have the Davis Advantage plans can get discounted services by calling in over the phone and giving their Credit card information over the phone. This opens up as another authorization and allows them to have the same benefits as if this was their 1st pair. This option has allowed up to increase our second pairs cause we still collect the material copay and any upgrade fees, and we aren't paying for the materials... Not as profitable as a private pay multiple, but extra moola in any case.

If you do carry Viva product, they offer some provider rewards for stocking certain levels of their product in the office. Extra $5 for every Davis patient seen up to a cap of $1000-$3000 depending on your inventory level, and $5 for every Viva frame (not including basics, Bongo, Ecko, and Catherine Denavue) sold to a Davis patient. Since I have many who love the Magic Clip and the branded magnetic clip on frames from Guess and Gant, this have worked out very well for us.

It isn't all sunshine and roses, but if you have a larger plan and in a prime location (like we are near a hub for a major employer who utilizes Davis) it can be a profitable partnership.

Cassandra

[allanon]

Just know that they take a minimum of 3wks to do a progressive w/ Alize in a Silhouette drill mount.

Ordered one on 12/9/06 and it's still in their lab.

Plans that don't use their lab you can make tons of money on. Plans where you have to use their lab.. well you'll break even.

[LENNY]

I newer had any Davis plans that allowed me to use my own lab!
Unless you can count a $12 allowance for my own FT28 lenses!? For $12 I let them do the job!

PS Why would you send a Sillhouette job to Davis?
They have a hard time doing their own #PMs!

[Johns]

Just know that they take a minimum of 3wks to do a progressive w/ Alize in a Silhouette drill mount.

And you guys take these plans!?!:shiner: :hammer:

[cocoisland58]

Who is Davis Vision exactly? Are they part of something bigger or just an annoying singular entity? We don't have to deal with them much but the plan we do see is complicated and well...rather stupid.

[optical24/7]

Some things about Davis Vision.....

They are based out of Plainview NY, have a full lab also in Vegas and a finishing only lab out of Albuquerque N.M. You phone in Rx's to their main location (NY) and they either do the job there or farm it to their Vegas lab. They also farm some of the finish work to N.M. lab. Many of our Rx's end up coming from this N.M. lab. ( hence the 3-4 weeks on some jobs, surfaced at one location, shipped to another for finishing, go figure..:hammer:)

They recently bought Viva (the frame company) and also bought ECA (Eyemasters).

We have been providers for over 18 years, back to when they were part of Traveler's Health Network. They used to be very loyal to independent locations, allowing no chains ( sound like VSP to anyone?) Since then they have moved in a different direction, allowing chains and box stores into the mix.

They also don't play fair with the independents any longer....
A year back I found out Eyemasters was a Davis provider. Not please with the corporate switch to chains, I wanting to see for myself how Eyemasters handled Davis members.

We have a large employer in my area that uses Davis, so I am very familiar with the benifits spacific to that co. I went into our local EM and said I worked for said co. and wanted to see what was available to me. (yea, I lied, shoot me :D). They went to their computer and shot out a list of benifits and handed it to me. This is where I really got mad...

The optician there said I was entitled to any frame $57 or under (retail), I would have to pay the difference on any frame over that amount. Davis tells us here at our location that members get a $40 wholesale allowance. That means that if a Davis member comes to me, I am supposed to give a frame worth $100 retail to the patient, ( no overage )! Now how fair is that?

Another thing on their reimbursement...Some plans have a Retail allowance of $115. The most Davis will pay you for a frame is $43. If you take a $45 dollar frame with a standard 2.5 mark-up you will loose money. ($45x2.5= $112.50, in plan amount, patient pays nothing, Davis pays you $43. Gee, Thank You Davis! )

With all of the above said, there are plans you can make a small (and I mean small) profit on. But with about 3000 different plans that they design for members it really depends on which plan walks thru your door. Bottom line personal assessment of Davis, It all depends on how many patients in your area have it AND what plan they have.

[Jubilee]

Have you thought about your pricing?

One of the things I have done to improve the profitability of our offices is to look at our pricing, comparing it to our costs, our insurance reimbursements, and our competition.

VSP assumes a higher markup that what you have calculated. In fact many vendors around here assume a higher markup than what VSP calculates...Make sure you aren't losing money there too!

I do not have Eyemasters in my area, but aren't they a "discount" type chain. They may have a very low markup to make the $$ via volume (Costco anyone?) and they simply altered their "pricing" to reflect that difference. I know other companies that have done this with the insurance company's knowledge since pricing is based on reimbursement levels.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Davis is a division of Highmark-Davis.

They also offer other types of managed care/benefits/and coordination of plans. As was stated they bought out the chain to protect their market since Lux was also interested in making an offer.

We deal with primarily the Plainview Location


Cassandra

[optical24/7]

Hi Jubilee. We charge what our market will bare. The only ins. we accept is Davis. 88% of our patient base are full pay. Our average sale is $421. We price frames on a sliding scale, less mark-up on more expensive frames. We tend to price our frames on the lower side. We found patients more receptive to 2nd pairs/specialty glasses when our frames are a little lower.

We've also got a lot of competition. Within a 5 mile radius I have 3 walmarts, 1 Sam's Club, a Costco, a Lenscrafters, 2 Eyemasters, 4 dispensing MD's and 7 other independent OD's. Come to think about it, I'm surprised we do as well as we do!:)

[Jubilee]

We accept Eyemed and VSP as well. We HAD to raise our prices in order not to get screwed by these plans. When I came on board, I was told that we didn't encourage Davis patients to get our frames, cause we lost money. Yet, when I delved into the paperwork, I showed them where we were losing money on every other insurance frame as well, unless they went way under or way over on their allowance.

Talk with Davis and see if you can tell patients 110 instead.

I have finally gotten through to the Doctor and other associates here that Walmart, et al is not our competition. They will always be able to be cheaper.. how ever cheap does not equal value.

Just the same LC is way more expensive on the lenses and many frames than we are. They also don't have the same consistancy of service that we do.

Our pricing is inbetween. I talked to the doctor about the last time he updated pricing on our basic lenses and options. Been over 5 years. None of their family has ever had to pay full price for a pair of glasses and they squirm at the prices as they are now. I walked him through how prices have changed. Not just in the progressives, but with all the shipping/delivery charges, the general increase in cost of goods demands that we NEED to raise prices to maintain our current profitability. We are still going to be in the medium to low price range, however I believe every rational human being realizes that with all the extra fuel charges, the price of oil also affecting the price of plastics in general, not to mention delivery charges, that a price increase is not irrational.

We tell our patients that our focus is on quality, service and value.

Considering we don't have any real marketing efforts at this time, we do very well just by word of mouth alone.

Cassandra

[Uilleann]

Our doc was asking the other day - for those who still accept Davis, and use your own lab instead of theirs - how do you set it up?

[mdeimler]

Strong arm Davis into letting you do it. They have to at this point, with all the unhappy patients/providers.

[EyeManFla]

We take EVERYTHING....EXCEPT..Davis Vision.

[B101875]

We are a Davis Provider.

They are similar to Spectera, as in they manufacture their own glasses.
We have not had the same amount of problems as we did with Crown labs (we dropped specterra a year ago, but retained most patients)

An order from Davis can come in as little as 3 days, or as long as 3 weeks. They do seem to have a relatively high redo rate, but also if you use plan materials and labs, provide a one to two year no questions asked warranty, depending on which plan it is.

The tower collection is getting better, now that they are mixing it with some of ViVa core, just many are rebranded or styles no longer available through the normal distribution channels.

Davis has been very profitable for us. The number of Davis patients we see from one plan alone is enough for the doc to pay our office salaries.

Many of the plans in our area are great values for the patient. Especially when the employer is covering all the costs for the member! We tell our patients that Davis is an excellent plan to save you money, however, they do this by processing all the materials themselves, and it can take up to 3 weeks to process the order. We tell them this on the phone when we make the appointment and verify insurance, and again when we are selecting the eyewear. Most of our patients tell us the wait is worth the savings.

I have never had Davis not make a situation right. However, It may have taken them 2-3 times to get it right.

Cassandra

We all get upset w/ them. But in this day. We should be happy that employers are givning thier employees Vision Ins., and that people even have money to come in and buy from us. So if you tell them from the start: " Your ins. makes us use thier lab and it will take them 3 weeks to make your glasses." It kinda takes us out of the loop.

But then again it would be nice just not to take ins. We would have to work alot less harder. But we are afarid.