For your convenience, we provide a Telavox email and telephone service for appointment confirmations. When making your appointment, include your request for appointment confirmations if you would like to participate. Necessary paperwork is accessible directly from email confirmations.
Comprehensive General Ophthalmologist Appointments
Schedule an appointment with a Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) comprehensive general ophthalmologist.
Ophthalmology Specialist Appointments
Schedule an appointment with a WCM ophthalmology specialist.
Physician & Staff Directory
It is important that your appointment be scheduled with a physician appropriate for your needs in order to obtain the most suitable examination and services. If you have been previously evaluated and are being referred to a specific physician, or if you have an established diagnosis, please provide that information when you schedule your appointment. If your problem is complex and has been evaluated extensively in the past, please have your records sent to the physician with whom you are scheduled, or bring them with you on the day of your appointment.
What to Bring to Your First Visit
- Your insurance card (if you do not have insurance or the doctor you are seeing does not accept your insurance, you are required to pay at the time of service).
- An up-to-date list of any medications you may be taking and their dosages.
- Your current eyeglass and/or contact lens prescription.
- If necessary, any referral or authorization forms from your primary care physician.
- Completed Patient Profile & Registration Forms (to reduce your wait time).
Referral Forms
Many insurance companies require a completed referral (electronic or paper form) prior to our examination. Patients are responsible for obtaining this referral, and encouraged to contact their insurance provider to comply with the required process for their specific carrier. If a referral is required by your insurance carrier, please fax it: (646) 962-0609, as early as possible before your appointment date. In exceptional, urgent situations, it may be possible to bring the referral form with you on the day of your visit. However, please understand that, in accordance with Weill Cornell Medicine Physician Organization requirements, we regret that we are unable to see patients for examination without an appropriate referral, even if it has been obtained but is not available or cannot be verified at patient check-in.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
If this is your first appointment, after check-in, you will be escorted into the examination area by an ophthalmic technician who will review your essential health information and the reason for your visit and begin drafting your electronic medical record. For many patients, several diagnostic measurements may also be required at this time, including visual acuity or glaucoma tests, etc. Most patients, including children, will then need pupillary dilation, which necessitates a 30-minute period after eye drops are administered. Please be on time for your appointments - patients who are significantly late will be asked to reschedule. We appreciate 24-hour notice for appointment cancellations.
Allow approximately two hours for an initial evaluation. Subsequent visits are substantially shorter for most patients but vary according to individual needs.
Weill Cornell Medicine ophthalmologists are committed to the education of our future physicians (who are accepted for training after an extremely competitive application process), as well as research that will result in new and improved treatments. Your appointment may include interactions with residents or fellows, who learn by assisting faculty physicians and remain under immediate supervision at all times.
We also participate in a large number of clinical research trials concerning a variety of ocular conditions and you may be asked if you are interested in enrolling in such a trial. Participation in a clinical trial is always completely voluntary and optional and Weill Cornell Medicine ophthalmologic researchers adhere to the highest standards involving human participants. Feel free to ask your physician if a trial concerning your condition is currently underway.
If you have questions concerning any of the information above, do not hesitate to contact us.