How to Read and Compare Any Ortho-K Quote

Why Most Practices Hide Pricing

There is a defensible reason and a less defensible one. The defensible reason is real: a fitting cannot be accurately priced before the corneas are mapped, so any published figure has to be a starting point rather than a quote. That is why our published figures say starting at, and why you receive your exact figure in writing before you commit.

The less defensible reason is that a number withheld until you are sitting in the room is a number that is harder to decline. If a practice will not give you even an approximate starting figure over the phone, that is worth noticing. See Ortho-K Cost for ours.

Questions to Ask Any Provider

1. 1How many follow-up visits are included, and what is charged after that? This is the biggest single driver of the difference between quotes.
2. 2Is corneal topography included, and is the design calculated from my own map or selected from stock parameters? Custom design and stock fitting are different procedures at similar looking prices.
3. 3If the first design needs changing, is the refinement charged? Some eyes need a second design. Whether that is a normal part of fitting or a new invoice matters.
4. 4What is the full exclusions list, in writing? Ask for it as a document rather than a conversation.
5. 5Is the consultation fee credited toward the program? If not, it is an added cost rather than a first step.
6. 6What does year two look like? Lens replacement, solutions, and continuing care are real recurring costs on every quote.
7. 7Who performs the fitting, and how much Ortho-K do they do? Volume and focus matter in a specialty fitting.

Seven questions, and most of them can be answered on the phone. A practice that answers all seven straightforwardly has told you something useful before you have spent anything. See Why Choose Us.

Red Flags

• A discount that expires. If a price is fair today it is fair next week. Deadlines exist to prevent you thinking.
• A verbal quote only. Anything that will not be written down is not a commitment.
• No exclusions list. Every program has exclusions. A practice claiming otherwise has not told you about them yet.
• Lenses fitted without topography. This is a fitting method question, not a price question, and it affects both outcome and safety.
• Everyone is a candidate. Some eyes are genuinely unsuitable. A practice that never says no is not screening.
• Follow-up charged per visit with no bundle offered. Legitimate in itself, but it creates an incentive to skip the visits that protect you.
• Pressure to decide at the consultation. A considered decision about your eyes should survive a night of thinking about it.

What a Written Estimate Should Contain

• The total figure for your specific program, not a starting figure
• An itemized list of what is included, including how many follow-up visits and over what period
• An explicit exclusions list
• What happens if a design refinement is needed, and whether it is covered
• Lens replacement and warranty terms
• What ongoing care costs after the covered window
• Payment terms, and whether the consultation fee is credited

You should leave your consultation with that document whether or not you proceed. If you want to take it to another practice for comparison, that is exactly what it is for. Ours is described in Package Pricing and What Is Included.

What We Commit To

Published starting figures on this website. No quote before your corneas are mapped. A written estimate with exclusions listed, given to you at the consultation regardless of whether you proceed. No expiring discounts. And a direct answer if you are not a candidate, including when the honest recommendation is a different treatment or a different practice.

That is not generosity, it is just how we think this should work. See Trust and Transparency and Clinical Philosophy.