DMV vision forms

Are there any OD's out there that provide (and then complete) the DMV vision forms to your patients so that they can receive/renew their driver's licenses?

I'm just wondering because today I had a patient that was absolutely furious because I don't provide the forms at my office! My staff informed her that if she needed to have the form filled out, she would have to go to the DMV office herself, get one, and then return to my office and I'd be happy to fill it out for her.

This patient is new to me (thanks to her insurance company), and apparently, her former OD used to provide the form for her, fill it out during her exam, and let her leave the office with it to take to the DMV.

This is my 8th year in practice, and I've never worked in an office, whether it be a private or commercial setting, that actually provided the DMV forms to patients. I've worked in several states, and filled out many a DMV form, but I've always felt that it is the patient's responsibility to provide their own form. The DMV is a state agency, and as such I feel that these forms should only be issued by the state. Is this not rational thinking on my part?

BTW, I haven't actually seen this patient yet; she has an appointment to see me on Tuesday. She got upset over the phone while she was making her appointment.
 
Your office is not a DMV. It is not your responsibility. PIA patients, charge them extra :).
 
ask the patient if they brought their own chart for you to keep their records in. when they say no, tell them they are a fool, and send, no, "refer" them to walmart. there they can probably buy a DMV form from the optical.
weed out the PITA patients from your practice - it will make your life easier.
 
New York State Eye Test Forms are available on-line.

http://www.nysdmv.com/forms.htm#mv619

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices are generally open only during business hours. DMV offices in New York City have long lines. It is much more convenient for license-renewers in New York City to visit their vision care provider during evening or weekend hours, complete a brief Snellen acuity test with both or one eye (if monocular), and mail the completed form to the DMV along with the completed license registration and fee than to wait interminably in DMV offices during business hours.

A cheery attitude on the part of the vision care provider with regard to this courtesy to a patient is likely to encourage return visits for vision care.
 
Michael Barris said:
New York State Eye Test Forms are available on-line.

http://www.nysdmv.com/forms.htm#mv619

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices are generally open only during business hours. DMV offices in New York City have long lines. It is much more convenient for license-renewers in New York City to visit their vision care provider during evening or weekend hours, complete a brief Snellen acuity test with both or one eye (if monocular), and mail the completed form to the DMV along with the completed license registration and fee than to wait interminably in DMV offices during business hours.

A cheery attitude on the part of the vision care provider with regard to this courtesy to a patient is likely to encourage return visits for vision care.

Thanks, but I don't practice anywhere near New York City! The lines at the local DMV office here are only really long on the weekends.

I'm aware that the DMV form is available to be downloaded and then printed off the 'net, but I still feel that it is the patient's responsibility to do this, not mine.

The way I see it, this patient was spoiled by the extra 'courtesies' she received from her former OD, and expects to receive the same from me! She only wants to see me now because I accept her insurance -- how's that for patient loyalty?

I run a clean, comfortable, and efficient little office, but the optometric equivalent of the Hilton it's not. I do provide good patient care, and I do strive to make my patients happy, but I feel I must also respectfully treat them like the mature and responsible adults they are (or should be).
 
Stephanie Yee said:
I do provide good patient care, and I do strive to make my patients happy, but I feel I must also respectfully treat them like the mature and responsible adults they are (or should be).

New York State requires physicians to stock and complete applications for handicapped parking permits and report certain diseases and evidence of physical trauma. The Food and Drug Administration requires physicians to submit adverse drug reaction reports. Stocks of necessary forms have been required for at least fifty years, in my experience.

As an elected state official, I am appalled by the flippant comments of posters on this thread regarding statutory requirements.
 
DMV forms

I don't see what the big deal is. For 30 years, we have called the local New York State DMV and they mail us out a stack of forms to have on hand.
Our local DMV has such as lousy reputation that most people would rather pay for a complete eye exam than wait in line down there. For some of the farmers around here that is the only reason that they get their eyes examined. It is also a courtesy for our regular patients to save them a trip into town.
 
maybe i could squeeze in supplying and filling out the form right between the foot massage portion and the tax return completion portion of my patients VSP exams. i have about 99.5% third party. with the amount i get reimbursed for my services, i dont have the time or money to be a quasi DMV. i know this sounds cold and bitter, but thats just the way it is, and i dont like it anymore than anyone else does.
 
wow

I also dislike my managed care reimbursements but I will work
10 seconds later that day to sign the forms that my staff fill
out. Even my managed care patients are worth that time. I
didn't mean to get your ire up on such a minor topic-sorry.
 
Fred Bresler said:
I also dislike my managed care reimbursements but I will work
10 seconds later that day to sign the forms that my staff fill
out. Even my managed care patients are worth that time. I
didn't mean to get your ire up on such a minor topic-sorry.

with the amount of complaining i do towards corporate optometry and third party reimbursements, there are few topics that i cannot turn into anger :D .
 
drgregory said:
maybe i could squeeze in supplying and filling out the form right between the foot massage portion and the tax return completion portion of my patients VSP exams. i have about 99.5% third party. with the amount i get reimbursed for my services, i dont have the time or money to be a quasi DMV. i know this sounds cold and bitter, but thats just the way it is, and i dont like it anymore than anyone else does.

That's ridiculous.

I used to have a stack of DMV forms in the office. I downloaded it off of the net, and photocopied a bunch of them. (about 1 cent per page) If a patient needed one, I just signed it and gave it to the staff to fill out. Takes less than 30 seconds yet is a courtesy that makes the patients life TREMENDOUSLY easier. How hard is that?

If yours is the attitude typical of most private practitioners, then I'm not surprised that commercial practices continue to grow.
 
online forms

perhaps it would be helpful if each person pointed out the relevant link on their state's DMV web site; we could make a sticky post here so that it would be easy for members to find the forms from all 50 states with a single click

adam
 
MO 999 Missouri driver's license form

I'm with Ken and Michael. It takes 10 seconds to fill out and makes patients happy. Usually the main reason these folks show up at your office at all is that they had to waste 2 hours at the DMV only to end up NOT getting their license. Having to go back and forth one extra time makes them unhappy.

If you have a scribe, it takes approximately .8 seconds (the time it takes for me to write my illegible initials on the form before the scribe fills it out). "I" fill out 1-2/day in my heavily Medicare practice.

Here's the link to the MO 999, the Missouri driver's license form:

http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/forms/999.pdf
 
I have to admit that I have never heard of a eye doc office providing vision forms. Maybe it is different here. The DMV gives vision screening tests and those that fail must visit their eye doctor to have it filled out. Is this how it is in other states?

I do not see a DMV vision form available on the NC DOT website.
 
Tom Stickel said:
I'm with Ken and Michael. It takes 10 seconds to fill out and makes patients happy. Usually the main reason these folks show up at your office at all is that they had to waste 2 hours at the DMV only to end up NOT getting their license. Having to go back and forth one extra time makes them unhappy.

Well, in my experience, the driver has failed the vision test at the DMV because they haven't had an eye exam and new RX in the last 5+ years. They walk into the DMV thinking that they don't need the eye exam, and it makes them unhappy when the DMV clerk informs them not only do they need a new exam, but they must get the form filled out, get the new RX, and return to the DMV to be re-tested before being granted their license/renewal. The vision re-test is done to verify that the driver has in fact gotten the RX updated, and discourages the driver from tampering with whatever the OD/MD has written regarding BCVA, driving recommendations, etc.

Now, had these same drivers been getting eye exams and new RX's every 1-2 years, they wouldn't need to have the DMV vision form filled out at all, because they would pass the minimum visual standards set by the state. So generally speaking, if the only reason they show up at our offices at all is because the DMV sends them every 6 years or so, they are NOT loyal patients to us.

As far as I am concerned, the state's DMV issues their forms. I just fill 'em out.
 
Tom Miller said:
[In North Carolina, t]he DMV gives vision screening tests and those that fail must visit their eye doctor to have it filled out. Is this how it is in other states?quote]

In New York State, the license renewer receives in the US Mail a renewal form from the Department of Motor Vehicles along with a vision test report form. The renewer then has two alternatives: 1) pass the Snellen Visual Acuity Test to the criterion of 20/40 with both eyes or one eye with or without corrective lenses in an office of the DMV, or 2) pass the same test in a vision care provider's office and have the provider sign the vision test report form. The license renewer than forwards the signed license renewal form, the fee, and the signed vision test report form to the DMV.

Renewers failing the vision test have the option of acquiring corrective lenses that permit test passage. The granted licenses then indicate that corrective lenses are required for vehicle operation.
 
Dmv

Over the years I have had some funny situations with regard to the DMV forms. Some patients who require their first rx to pass, ask for the signed form and say that they will come back tomorrow for glasses and
of course never do. The DMV just looks at the signed form and the person gets their license. After a few of those our procedure is that we will not hand over the form until the glasses are on the person's face. We tell them we don't care where you get the glasses Walmart, Empire Vision, etc. When some complain that they paid for the form, we tell them that they paid for the exam and the form is a courtesy.
 
CA DMV renewal

Dear forum,

In CA, I just renewed my DMV form by mail. Their minimum requirement is a statement or oath that you must attest to stating whether you know that your eyes have changed or that you have a eye medical condition that won't let you see to drive. If you say no to either, you get your license renewed through the mail for $29. No vision exam required. If you take your mail renewal notice into the DMV and want to renew personally, you will be asked to read the Snellen chart. It is a disincentive to renew in person.
 
Fred Bresler said:
Over the years I have had some funny situations with regard to the DMV forms. Some patients who require their first rx to pass, ask for the signed form and say that they will come back tomorrow for glasses and
of course never do. The DMV just looks at the signed form and the person gets their license. After a few of those our procedure is that we will not hand over the form until the glasses are on the person's face. We tell them we don't care where you get the glasses Walmart, Empire Vision, etc. When some complain that they paid for the form, we tell them that they paid for the exam and the form is a courtesy.

The New York renewal form has a box to check if glasses are required. WHy don't you just check it?? It can't be your responsibility to ensure that the patient wears the glasses or that the DMV properly notes that corrective lenses are required on their license.
 
You are correct of course. It is just a personal quirk of mine that when my signature goes on a form I feel responsible for all the ramifications.



Ken Elder said:
The New York renewal form has a box to check if glasses are required. WHy don't you just check it?? It can't be your responsibility to ensure that the patient wears the glasses or that the DMV properly notes that corrective lenses are required on their license.
 
Stephanie Yee said:
Well, in my experience, the driver has failed the vision test at the DMV because they haven't had an eye exam and new RX in the last 5+ years. They walk into the DMV thinking that they don't need the eye exam, and it makes them unhappy when the DMV clerk informs them not only do they need a new exam, but they must get the form filled out, get the new RX, and return to the DMV to be re-tested before being granted their license/renewal. The vision re-test is done to verify that the driver has in fact gotten the RX updated, and discourages the driver from tampering with whatever the OD/MD has written regarding BCVA, driving recommendations, etc.

Now, had these same drivers been getting eye exams and new RX's every 1-2 years, they wouldn't need to have the DMV vision form filled out at all, because they would pass the minimum visual standards set by the state. So generally speaking, if the only reason they show up at our offices at all is because the DMV sends them every 6 years or so, they are NOT loyal patients to us.

As far as I am concerned, the state's DMV issues their forms. I just fill 'em out.

couldnt agree more. im not an office to do peoples random tasks, and those who would only see our docs because we supply the forms i'd rather not have as patients anyways - they are most likely not there for quality eye care.
 
Michael Barris said:
As an elected state official, I am appalled by the flippant comments of posters on this thread regarding statutory requirements.
Fred Bresler said:
For 30 years, we have called the local New York State DMV and they mail us out a stack of forms to have on hand.
Our local DMV has such as lousy reputation that most people would rather pay for a complete eye exam than wait in line down there. For some of the farmers around here that is the only reason that they get their eyes examined.
This is both hilarious and a sad statement about politics.
 
h.c. jang said:
This is both hilarious and a sad statement about politics.

New York State Motor Vehicle Offices outside of New York City are maintained by elected County Clerks. Each County has had a different experience; some poor, some fine. The voters get what they demand.

Department of Motor Vehicle regulations have a profound impact on demand for vision care service. In New York City, many people do not drive because of the population density which permits no place to park a car but offers cabs and subways as alternatives. It is common to find people with uncorrected acuities of 20/60, particularly women concerned about their appearance.
 
That’s an unusual case. I have filled out hundreds of those forms for patients. They always come in with them after they fail the test.

You just got unlucky that the previous OD spoiled the patient. Some offices serve coffee too. Next week you might get chastised for not having continental breakfast. Don't sweat it. The patient sounds like she is a bit of a hydra (the seven headed dragon from Hercules :) )