Ballard Vision Associates Nashville Eye Care

A few years ago, I chose an eye doctor from a co-worker's referral and since it was covered by my insurance, I decided to get my eyes checked here. The Ballard Vision office uses high tech modern equipment! Dr. Ballard, is a doctor that cares with a solid resume, will take the time to explain vision correction options and the staff/receptionists were also very You get the usual pre-exam tests like that big dome where you use a clicker whenever you see a light flash..but a cool thing is that they take a digital image of your eye to see if anything's wrong. The eye exam itself, i felt, was thorough and done in professional manner. i was in and out of the office within 45 minutes. doctor and staff are also friendly and efficient. another plus is the office is open on Saturdays by appointment and on certain days of the week until 7pm (perfect for the working folk) The only negative which has nothing to do with the practice but is a good FYI is that my eye insurance sucks so I had to pay for some of my contacts cost out of pocket so make sure you ask the staff about what your insurance covers. more

The basics are that while I did really like Dr. Ballard I had an overall horrible experience. Upon my first visit I was told that I could not use my vision plan $ allotment on my exam and contacts, but that I had use it on contacts alone because that is how they used the plan there. They also told me they could match prices on contacts. A call to my vision plan said otherwise and they put in a call to the office. Back I went a week later to pick up my contacts. I had ordered one box knowing I just wanted to use up the rest of my plan $ and never go back there again. They tried to push a full years supply on me (@ $75 a box) and I told them no, that I could get them through 1800contacts for a mere $49 a box! They refused to match this price unless I bought a year's supply. I was so aggrivated that once again they were trying to get more $ from me! Because of this I decided to order my glasses elsewhere as well. Turns out after paying $170 for two pairs of glasses, the prescription is off!!!! I called Dr. Ballard's office and was once again met with an unfriendly staff who said they could recheck my prescription but that since I'd bought them elsewhere there was just nothing they could do about the $ I'd spent. \r I've recently emailed my vision plan about this whole experience. Like I said, Dr. Ballard is as nice as can be, but it's not worth going through the staff to get to him!!!! Pros: great dr Cons: office staff more

i feel like i need to put a review here after seeing several negative ones. i have been a patient here for several years now and i have NEVER had an issue. Dr. Ballard is extremely friendly and will take the time to hear you and your concerns. i have found the staff to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable. also, someone mentioned that they were given a test that was not covered by their insurance but were not asked before hand wether they wanted it-every time i go in there i have to sign a form telling me that the doctor would like this test to be done but that it will be out of my pocket. i usually don't do it and they never hassle me about it. i have also had friends go here too and they all were very happy with their experience. one more thing- it may not bee a huge place but they have the best frames. Pros: great doc, friendly staff, great selection of frames Cons: not always a parking spot outside of building more

I?ve worked in the area for 11 years and in that time my eye glasses have broken twice. Both times, these guys fixed them, good as new, for FREE! There were no pushy sales to by a new pair just helpful & fast service. I plan to give them my business in the future. more

I went into Dr Ballard's office with the express condition that my new vision insurance limited what I could spend and not wanting to have a large out of pocket expense, surprising. I was given tests that were not covered by insurance without knowledge or choice; some retinal photo for $45 that is refused by insurance.\r \r \r In conversation with Dr Ballard I mentioned, again, my desire to keep expenses low and he told me my new contact brand would come to $20 per year after my insurance. When I returned for a recheck before ordering this new brand I was told ""He doesn't know anything about our billing or prices"" when faced with another $130 bill or only a 6 month supply. \r \r I'd done my research and found the same brand on contactlensking com, with 1800contacts com matching prices, free shipping and beating it by 2%. Dr Ballard himself told me ""They must get their contacts from some black market since they are lower than cost"". The office staff said they couldn't match that price but offered to drop their price to $50 per box, still $18 per box higher than the online price I'd found. I said thank you but no I would order online and asked for a prescription.\r \r When I ordered I had to pay out of pocket for reimbursement only to find that Dr Ballard's office had charged my vision insurance anyway, despite telling me they would either not charge or reverse the charges and had already received a check! I called the vision insurance, EyeMed who are all very pleasant and gave me everything I would need to get reimbursed and told me when to expect a check or to call back, 10-14 days.\r \r In closing I never had issue with Dr Ballard matching prices or the office experience until changing my prescription to something with a higher cost. My suggestion is this, go in for an exam but get your glasses or contacts somewhere else; Unless, of course, you would prefer to pay nearly double for your vision products. Pros: Convenient, great doctor care Cons: Refusal to match online prices, bills you for procedures you are not told would be billable, bills insurance for services not rendered. more

Dr. Ballard is the best eye doctor I have been to in a long time. He spent alot of time with me and I did not feel rushed at all like alot of places. They have a friendly staff and alot of designer glasses to choose from. I will definatley be back! I wear contacts and it has been hard to get the presciption right in the past but I am seeing great now! Pros: Parking, no wait more

My experience started off very well. I know the Dr. from another venue, so felt like I could tell him what I was looking for in prescription glasses. I couldn't have been more wrong. I told them repeatedly NO bifocals. My line is sight for close up is too high for them. My monitors are above eye level, as well as everything I work with. I put a HUGE emphasis on this with everyone in the office. There response was, ""that's ok, we can do them without bifocals."" I return to get my prescription, only to find that short distances they were extremely fuzzy. I couldn't work on my computers, I couldn't work on my job with them. I couldn't even sit in my livingroom and watch television with them on. I thought it was the newness of them at first, but it got no better. Two days later I contacted them and told them something was wrong, explained my circumstances, and their reply was, ""well you need a bifocal"". ""We did your prescription 20/20 for distance vision. Yeah, I can read the fine print 50 yds away, but I can't see the computer screen to work on graphics. I have since gone back to my old glasses (10 yr old prescription) so that I can see to work. This is horrible. They charged my insurance, not to count that I paid triple digits out of my own pocket for something that is totally unusable to me. My money has more value to me then to just ""throw it away"" and if I did choose too, I could find much better resources to give it too. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!! more