FAQ Category: Steamboat FAQs

• We are registered with all health insurance companies however the level of cover may be variable depending on the company you are with and the level of cover you have. Typically, surgery is covered in full however there may be an excess payment to the hospital for certain procedures depending on your level of cover.
• Consultation fees are not typically covered by insurance however a receipt is given after each consultation to facilitate your dealings with the insurance companies. An insurance code for any proposed procedure can also be provided

We accept patients who do not have health insurance but wish to have their eyes assessed and/or surgery performed on a self-pay basis. Information on the cost of individual procedures can be obtained by speaking to one of the secretaries at the clinic.

A consultation can usually be arranged within a number of days. Once the necessity for surgery has been determined, the surgery can usually be facilitated within weeks. A pre-operative assessment is required prior to surgery for certain procedures (e.g. cataract surgery)

Surgery is at all times performed by one of our two ophthalmic surgeons and an appointment can be made with either surgeon upon referral (Philip O’ Reilly and Sylvia Jungkim).

With cataract surgery, the natural lens (which has become hazy or cataractous) is replaced with an artificial lens. The lens chosen for the surgery will determine whether one is short-sighted or long-sighted after the surgery. Although doing away with glasses is not the primary goal of cataract surgery, we usually aim for people to have good day-to-day vision (even without glasses), although this is not always the case. Glasses are typically still required for reading or for tasks involving fine vision.

• There is a multi-story car park just around the corner from Steamboat Eye Clinic (Steamboat Quay car park) as you turn in off the Dock Road.
• There are also a limited number of car parking spaces directly outside the clinic. These do not belong to Steamboat Eye Clinic and require tickets to be purchased from the on street coin machines.

Drops are often administered during the consultation to dilate the pupils and enable a thorough retinal examination. These blur the vision to some extent for a number of hours (4-6 hours) and as such driving should be avoided until the effects of the drops have worn off. As such, it is usually better to be accompanied by somebody that can drive (this is especially true for the first consultation).

We aim to see you as close to your appointment time as possible however it is best to plan on being at the clinic for 1-2 hours.