Walking into a new eye care practice can feel uncertain when you don’t know what happens next or how long your appointment will take. Your first visit to an optometrist sets the foundation for your ongoing eye health, and understanding the process helps you arrive prepared and relaxed.
At Focused Eye Care, we’ve designed our first-visit experience to be thorough yet efficient at both our Nashua and Milford locations. With 10 providers on staff, you won’t wait weeks for an appointment, and our team handles everything from insurance verification to frame selection in one visit. Here’s exactly what your first appointment with us looks like.
Before You Arrive
Preparing for your first visit starts before you walk through our doors. We make the process simple by texting or emailing your paperwork for you to complete at home. This digital intake process asks about your medical history, current medications, vision complaints, and insurance information.
If you prefer paper forms, arrive 15 minutes early to complete your paperwork in our waiting area. Bring your current glasses and contact lenses if you wear them, along with your insurance cards and a list of any medications you take. If you’re coming for a medical eye exam related to eye pain, redness, or sudden vision changes, note when symptoms started and what makes them better or worse.
Many patients wonder whether someone needs to drive them home. For routine eye exams, most of our patients feel comfortable driving themselves. However, if you feel uncomfortable, feel free to bring a driver to take you home.
Check-In and Insurance Verification
When you arrive, our front desk team greets you and verifies your information. We work with a broad range of medical insurance carriers and vision care plans, and we’ll confirm your benefits before your exam.
If you don’t have vision insurance, our team can explain our Focused VIP membership plan. This program provides tiered options for patients who want comprehensive eye care without insurance, making quality vision care accessible to everyone in our community. We also accept CareCredit and other financing options for procedures not covered by insurance.
Our team schedules appointments to minimize wait times. With 10 providers across both locations, we can usually accommodate same-day appointments for urgent concerns. Most patients move from check-in to their first testing within 10 minutes of arriving.
Pre-Testing and Measurements
Your appointment begins with preliminary testing conducted by one of our experienced technicians. These measurements provide your doctor with baseline information about your vision and eye health:
- Visual acuity testing: You’ll read letters on a chart at various distances to determine how clearly you see with your current level of correction.
- Autorefraction: An automated instrument measures your eye’s refractive error, giving your doctor a starting point for determining your prescription.
- Tonometry: This test measures the pressure inside your eyes, screening for glaucoma and other conditions.
- Digital imaging: Advanced diagnostic technology like Optomap® captures detailed images of your retina, allowing your doctor to detect problems early.
These preliminary tests take about 15 to 20 minutes and don’t cause discomfort. The information gathered helps your doctor customize the remainder of your exam based on what they find in these initial measurements.
Comprehensive Examination With Your Doctor
After preliminary testing, you’ll meet with one of our doctors for your comprehensive examination. Focused Eye Care has providers who offer different areas of focus:
- Dr. Kelly M. MacDonald, O.D.: Multi-generational family care and glaucoma diagnosis
- Dr. Scott D. Huffer, O.D./F.A.A.O.: Primary care optometry with emphasis on dry eye treatment
- Dr. Sarah E. Jagatic, O.D.: Emergency eye care and glaucoma management with 20 years of experience
- Dr. Anjelica M. Donnelly, O.D.: Comprehensive primary eye care, myopia management, and specialty contact lenses
- Dr. Kendra M. Phillis, O.D.: Comprehensive primary eye care, myopia management, and specialty contact lenses
- Dr. Kristen O. Bryant, O.D.: Senior eye care with emphasis on ocular disease and low vision
- Dr. Stephen P. Waible, O.D.: Comprehensive primary eye care and vision therapy
- Dr. Catherine A. Johnson, O.D./F.A.A.O.: Pediatric eye care and care for patients with special needs
- Dr. Ronald B. Coutu, O.D.: Contact lens fittings (specialty and standard) and ocular disease management with 30+ years of experience
- Dr. Lyudmila Sutherland, O.D.: Comprehensive primary eye care and dry eye management
Your doctor begins by reviewing your medical history and discussing any vision concerns you’ve noticed. They’ll ask specific questions about eye strain, headaches, difficulty reading, or changes in your vision. This conversation helps them understand your daily visual demands and whether current correction methods meet your needs.
The examination includes several components. Your doctor tests how your eyes work together, evaluates your peripheral vision, and checks the health of structures inside your eye. They’ll determine your prescription for glasses or contact lenses if you need vision correction. The exam also screens for conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic eye disease.
If your doctor identifies issues requiring specialized testing, they may recommend additional diagnostics like TearLab Osmolarity Testing for dry eye evaluation, visual field testing for glaucoma screening, or Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for detailed retinal imaging.
Discussion of Findings and Recommendations
Once your doctor completes the examination, they’ll explain their findings in straightforward terms. They’ll discuss whether you need glasses, contacts, or vision correction, and explain any eye health concerns discovered during your exam. This conversation covers treatment options, follow-up schedules, and preventive measures to maintain healthy vision.
If you need treatment for conditions like dry eye, your doctor will explain procedures available at our practice, including IPL therapy at both locations and LipiFlow® at our Nashua office. For children showing signs of progressive myopia, we’ll discuss myopia control options that can slow nearsightedness progression.
Patients with irregular corneas or those unable to achieve clear vision with standard correction learn about our specialty contact lens services. Our experienced contact lens team fits custom lenses that provide comfortable, clear vision even for challenging prescriptions.
Your doctor will also address questions about pre- and post-operative LASIK care, which we provide at both locations. While we don’t perform the surgery itself, we coordinate with surgical centers and manage your care before and after the procedure.
Experience the Focused Eye Care Difference
Our practice continues to grow and improve to serve patients better. We invest in advanced diagnostic technology, stay current with the latest treatment options, and focus on procedures that provide genuine value to patients rather than just filling schedules.
Ready to experience personalized eye care from a team that puts you first? Schedule your first appointment at our Nashua or Milford location. Our doctors, who are all members of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and New Hampshire Optometric Association (NHOA), look forward to helping you achieve and maintain clear, comfortable vision for years to come.
