Looking for some information on Spectera

**hcjilson** · 05-09-2008, 06:05 PM

We are starting to hear of a new (to me anyway) Insurance called Spectera. Anyone out there with any feedback on how they are to do business with. Any info you can provide will be helpful.

thanx
hj

**CME4SPECS** · 05-09-2008, 06:20 PM

check this out. http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...light=spectera

**IndianaOD** · 05-09-2008, 09:42 PM

Run away as quickly as possible. Its awful. Terrible for patients and doctors.

**NavyChief** · 05-09-2008, 10:00 PM

I don't know. We just started dealing with them and have had no problem. Online Doctors claim submission with checks cut twice a month. No exams shorted in reimbursement yet.
No idea on the glasses/CL reimbursement yet. Too early to tell.

**jcasowder** · 05-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Our doctor decided to accept Spectera, and she completely regrets it. I send frames to their lab Priority through USPS, and if I call the lab after a week to check if they received the frame, they say not yet. I inform them that it was shipped Priority, and they already received it according to USPS. They told us it takes up to 15 days to receive frames in the mail! I have yet to receive one in less than 4 weeks, and we've been taking it for 6 months. If you call Spectera for coverage because you can't access any info on the website, they will not fax a form giving any copay info. You literally have to ask them for each copay amount for any add-ons. I shudder when I hear their name mentioned. I know the lab that handles the glasses, and when I ordered lenses from them for an office I worked for in the past, the lenses needed to be redone about half the time. Good Luck!

**bob_f_aboc** · 05-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Aside from having your patients choose from "The Box" of select 1980's style frames that are covered, we had problems getting paid and since they require you to use a specific lab, the turn-around can be anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks depending on how much turnover they have had recently.

**Christosfer** · 05-10-2008, 08:39 PM

I found out that we were mischarging for frames. The contract for independents is that you give them $50 off of wholesale! While the chains can take something like $150 off retail. This was verified by many phone calls to all levels at Spectera. The Doctor called them and told them he wanted to be removed from the program because we were forbidden from profiting from the sale of frames. It took about 6 months to be removed.

Our effort was to really encourage them to use the program for contacts. Their lab is horrible, and the customer service is bad too. Besides that, you make squat on the glasses. $50 off of WHOLESALE!

**DrNeyecare** · 05-10-2008, 10:51 PM

Our advice is not to take it. Bad stuff!!!

**spazz** · 05-19-2008, 08:24 AM

Run Away!! Flee!! Don't Look Back!!!! :)

**Chris Ryser** · 05-19-2008, 08:36 AM

https://www.spectera.com/index.shtml

**wolfman** · 05-19-2008, 04:06 PM

Our state uses Spectera for its medicaid vision. They are extremely difficult to work with, getting any kind of help is a joke from the customer service department. The lab that makes them will either take a couple of days or weeks depending on who knows what. I have had jobs come back with scratches in the lenses, a job with one lens being a 7x28 and the other lens a 8x35.
Also for any extras the patient gets they take the full amount of the extras the patient pays from you, so you actually get nothing, and in some cases owe money. We went 3 months without receiving a check because patients were doing add ons and we owed them the money. This happens with any of the Spectera plans not just the medicaid ones. I realize this part works like VSP does but at least with VSP we actually get to keep some of the money patients pay us. With Spectera we keep nothing from the extras.

RUN FROM THIS PLAN AS IF YOUR LIVELIHOOD DEPENDED ON IT!!

**Jana Lewis** · 05-19-2008, 04:17 PM

Worse plan known to man...literally.

Not only does spectera take forever to pay you, they do very shoddy work. I just recently received a job with a specific PAL design. The job came back... not only was the PAL wrong the eyes were switched!! :angry:

I ABHOR Spectera!

**Uncle Fester** · 05-19-2008, 04:54 PM

Harry- I think there's a strong consensus building here.:)

**kdog2020** · 05-19-2008, 05:09 PM

Stay away--all the above is true. We are dropping this plan, can't wait to be done with it. As said above, Provider support is bad, Provider reimbursement is even worse, the lab is horrible, and we seem to have a higher proportion of-shall we say-"unique" pts with spectera as well. Just to make it extra hard to work with Spectera, there are FOUR separate ways to file claims (two online and two paper) depending on the type of claim. Do you need to know anything else?

**HarryChiling** · 05-19-2008, 05:19 PM

Run don't walk to the nearest exit in the state of MD the medciaid patients have spectera and the service is horrible even when I call to find out info for patients, we would close down shop before we considered spectera.

**Happylady** · 05-19-2008, 07:19 PM

We take it just for exams and contacts, not for glasses anymore. We used to and had nothing but problems from it. We were going to drop it completely but they said we could stay just as providers for exams and contacts. We give 20% off on glasses.

If you have at least 5 locations you can use your own lab (at least it was that way). That might not be too bad but the Spectra lab is horrible!

**orangezero** · 05-19-2008, 09:44 PM

Who were the idiots who signed up and agreed to these plans in the first place and allowed these plans to survive?

Only allowing patients to get their select frames that you are forced to stock? Who thought that was a good idea?

Why would you ever let a third party know your wholesale costs anyway (besides the above issue)?

Jeeze.

**cocoisland58** · 05-20-2008, 04:50 AM

Unless you are a chain you don't want to go near Spectera. This office was part of a chain many years ago and so is either grandfathered in or Spectera hasn't figured out we are independent so we use our own frames and our own lab. With that, Spectera is fine to work with. I have worked where we had their odd frame collection in it's coffin case. It even made the patients cringe. If they ever decide to oust us from the provider board and make us do that again, see ya!