"free eye exams???"

[Texas Ranger]

Is there really such a thing as a "free" eye exam? The FTC says you can't offer a free exam as an inducement to buy glasses from the examiner,although we see that offered all the time in our area. So, if it's free and not an inducement to buy glasses, should we be sending our clients to those ODs offering the "free" exam, have them get their RX and return it to us? Of, course when the pts get the free exam, allowing them to buy a $39 pair of complete glasses, they're not exactly thrilled. But can you really adver. $39.95 complete pr of bifocal glasses(exam included), when the OD is "contracted" and being paid, I assume by the retailer? Except for the fact that the shops "average" pair sale is really pushing $200. So, is the exam "free"? Al.

[shanbaum]

Originally posted by Al:
The FTC says you can't offer a free exam as an inducement to buy glasses from the examiner,although we see that offered all the time in our area.

That's the first I've heard of any such FTC rule. This is from the FTC's web site:

The Prescription Release Rule, promulgated in 1978, requires that optometrists and ophthalmologists provide their patients with a copy of the patients' eyeglass prescription immediately after an eye exam is completed and at no extra cost. The rule also prohibits optometrists and ophthalmologists from conditioning the availability of an eye exam on a requirement that patients agree to buy their ophthalmic goods from the optometrist or ophthalmologist. The rule further prohibits optometrists or ophthalmologists from placing on prescriptions or giving to patients, certain disclaimers or waivers of liability.

The Texas Optometry Act used to (and may still) prohibit giving away eyeglasses as an inducement to buy anything (including eyeglasses). I don't recall that it prohibited free eye exams, but it may. I haven't looked at it in a long time.

You might check out:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/health/eyewear.htm

[Texas Ranger]

Robert, the ftc link also states that an "eye exam includes a refraction...",while md practices in our market charge medicare pts an extra $20 to $25 for the prescription to leave the office, since the refraction is NOT part of the eye exam. But the FTC says that it IS. and if it's not, what does the eye exam consist of then? the ftc link you sent me to was a generalized overview of the prescription release rule; I had just remembered reading the detailed rule several, well, many years ago, and that "free exam" part was part of it. somewhere along the way, that may have been changed.

[EyeManFla]

This is a really great and timely topic, as there as a couple of companies in Florida being investigated by the States Attorney Generals' office over this matter.
It's all in the wording. A 'free eye exam' isn't free if the Doctor is paid by the store because the cost is coming out of the materials. That's corporate optometry.
"We will pay for you eye exam" is also under investigation.
Basic rule.....If the Doctor doesn't own the the place, he can't really offer free eye exams.

You should read what the FTC has to say on 'buy one, get one free'......

[shanbaum]

Originally posted by Al:
md practices in our market charge medicare pts an extra $20 to $25 for the prescription to leave the office, since the refraction is NOT part of the eye exam. But the FTC says that it IS. and if it's not, what does the eye exam consist of then?

That's a good question. I can't imagine.

[allanon]

It's an ethics issue. I give you a free exam if you buy my normally $200 frames for $240.


I highly recommend Dr. Classe's book on the legal aspects of Optometry.. it goes over the FTC rulings in 20 pages or less :) (the book is 764 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...361939-9929763

[chip anderson]

What are ethics? I know what they used to be back when the doctor and the opticians primary concern was the health and needs of the patient money was only an incidental by product (and somehow we made more money then). Now this doesn't seem to be the primary objective.

[hcjilson]

Dear Al,
The FTC may not have specificly addressed the issue of a "free" exam as an inducement to purchase glasses but most optometric rules and regs have prohibited that practice on the state level.You should be able to check that out easily in Texas.From a chilly Cape Cod, best wishes

------------------
Harry J

[mikeh]

While I don't believe the FTC deals with free eye exams, the political reality is that even in states that have no language forbidding them, the Optometry Board (or the AG's office) will hassle the daylights out of any OD's involved.

Nobody wants to mess around with the authority that controls their license so the political threat of retailiation from the licensing board usually carries the day.

The problem is easily skirted by advertising a price with "exam included."

[eye4ni]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Al:

There is actually a state law here in Florida that any Optometrist who uses the word "free" in any advertising must have a disclaimer stating that all materials purchased as a result of the "free" ad can be returned within 72 without penalty.

Rick Hamilton, O.D.

[Jim Seebach]

Hi Al;

Texas Optometry does forbid giving a Free Exam for anything. They get around it here by having the chain optical offer to deduct the price of the exam from the price of the glasses. Hence, the free eye exam. If that is not the way the ad reads there, you need to clip it out and forward it to the Texas Optometry Board. However that may not do much good. I, as many others here in Texas feel the Optometry laws are unconstitutional. It would be neat to challenge them, but the cost would be high.
Jim Seebach

[EyeCon]

Al,
I think Jim Seebach understands all too well what the chain opticals are doing when they advertise " Free Eye Exam "...This sort of thing, however, has created a customer service situation that refuses to go away!...If the situation involves a " coupon " ...and that coupon says " Free Eye Exam "...many of the respondents or customers if ya like, are not really reading what is known as the " fine print ". Now I can't quote the coupon verbatim but it says something to the effect " come in, have your eye exam and we'll deduct the cost of your exam up to $40.00 from your purchase of our frames and lenses; bring in your Rx from another OD and we'll deduct the cost of your exam up to $40.00 "....Now, you've helped the customer with frame selection, talked a little about their lenses and all the bells and whisltles that go along with them; then you say, " Your total for today will be $------( whatever the cost minus the fee for the exam ) and just make your check for $40.00 to Dr. So and So for the exam"!...Well they usually reply by saying, " What, you just said the exam was free?, so why do I have to give the doctor a check for $40.00? Well, I say, " The Dr. still gets paid under this promotion, we are simply deducting the cost of the exam from your complete pair of glasses"...And somehow that doesn't sit well with some people; and then maybe the following week another customer will come back and say, " Well, I tried my new glasses as you suggested for a week, and I think their great, now can I have my $40.00 REBATE?!...So after countless numbers of people running to the store manager insisting on getting the rebate, and our telling the manager he has no authority over our cash box ( we are a leased dept. in his mega retail store ) And I'm certain many of the more affluent customers try to bring this all the way to the FTC because I know we've given refunds over this confusion...but I always think that this is the sort of thing that happens in non-licensed states like mine...that these chains are so eager for the fast buck that they are not paying careful attention to their promotions and the way they word their coupons...if I gave out 6 coupons the same coupons to 6 different people, I'll bet there's a good chance I may get 3 or 4 different interpretations!!...hence the customer service problem!
Sorry for the rambling folks, saw an opportunity to vent a little and grabbed it.

Eyecon

[Texas Ranger]

Buddy Jim, What I found out was that OD's contract their services to another OD's license for a salary, then the chain store can offer their services fo whatever thay like, so long as the dr. gets his salary. shop around the corner offers glasses for like 49.95 and the exam is free????, they average sale is way beyond that. it's called "bait and switch". they aren't doing much bidness though, thankfully. there are always consumers looking for something for nothing and there will always be those that will sucker them in.

[Jim Seebach]

Hey Al;

Your right on the button on that. The folks that must try to get something for nothing, and are suckered in by those who are good suckerers,(new word) will usually end up in our Offices trying to get things straightened out. I guess that is why we have so many headaches and ulcers.
Jim Seebach