, and I'm glad that I saw them and from now on that is where I will go for my contacts. quality of care was wonderful.

We have been here twice and each time, we have to wait over an hour past our appointment time to see the ophthalmologist. Then when we see the doctor, he gives us very little time. We moved to this area just over a year ago. We will be looking elsewhere for an ophthalmologist. read more

Great place. They do it all! Eye health is so important. They can do your annual exam and make your glasses and they have all the eye experts on staff should you ever need an eye specialist. read more

Vanderbilt Eye Institute - Optometrists Near Me - Nashville, Tennessee

Great experience with Dr Shieh and her team at Vanderbilt Eye Institute. I am blind in one eye so I wanted to make sure I had a competent Dr - didnt want to be permanently blind in both eyes if things went wrong. My mother had cataract in 1964 and lost vision in her eye as a result of that surgery so I had some anxiety even though I know there has been so much improvement in cataract since then. I put it off for a long time but finally had to have the cataract surgery. I did some thorough checking around and came up with Dr Shieh. Happy I did. She was so compassionate, professional, explained everything and I felt very comfortable with her. Everything went well and I could not have made a better decision. Thank you Dr Shieh read more

BEWARE!! This clinic over bills patients! I have been having the same exam for the last 8 years at other facilities, never got a charge as this is a preventative visit (I have had melanoma). They refused to bill it as preventative and even when I went though the review board I was left with a bill and a billing code my insurance would not cover..500.00!!! Unless you care nothing about your health or finances I would not use Vanderbilt. Just as a note my husband as well as my daughter have had similar experiences at other Vanderbilt facilities...BEWARE! Oh...they were nice enough to let me make payments... Ugh!!! read more

Absolutely fabulous people Dr and nurses. Easy appointments and wait time is very little.

Dr. Gangaputra was referred to me after my BRVO. I went in thinking I would have a consult, instead, they asked me to sign a consent for an eye injection without explaining anything to me. The doc came in and berated me for having questions and basically made me feel super idiotic for not knowing I was supposed to have an injection that day. No complications were explained, she told me she knew "everything" about my condition but would not 1) give me the name of the medication injected into my eye, 2) would not tell me Complications from the injections unless I asked about items, 3) basically told me I lied about my discussion with the doctor in their group who I saw and recommended me to her. I was told I would get eye drops and instead she said they would never say that. Lady, I think I know the difference when someone says eye drops vs eye injections. Big difference. Overall she's a bully, rude, and rushed. Do not go to her and if your parents go, someone needs to be there to ask questions and stand up for them. read more

When I walked in, the ladies at the desk pointed to the wrong hallway for me to go down. I accidentally walked into a room of doctors on break, eating lunch. A bad start to the experience. My appointment was on time. The tech provided the worst experience I could have imagined. I did not realize my eyes would have to be dilated. He absolutely man handled my eyes and gripped the side of my head doing so. Today is the next morning and my eye hurts horribly. I was so stunned I couldn't even up in the moment but the way I was being treated did not feel right. Will not be returning. read more

I saw Dr Horn and he told me I need cataract surgery at a cost of $8400. I went to Dr Brown at VEI and he told me I do not need the surgery and to come back in a year at best. Dr Brown is my hero as he could have just sold me on surgery. I will always go to VEI in the future. I scheduled an appointment at 3PM and I was seen at 3PM. This is my biggest complaint with all Doctor with the exception of Vanderbilt Hospital as a whole organization. Keep you with the great work. Thank you Dr Brown. read more

Great care but unfortunately it doesn't matter what time your appointment is, they won't be on time. I've never waiting less than an hour for an appointment. Basically expect to spend your day here if you have to have any kind of testing done. The waiting rooms are always completely full and it's clear they overbook people. read more

My appointment was with Dr. Deepa. She is fantastic and I would recommend her highly. Quick, efficient, knowledgeable, direct, and friendly. She is cordial, but without wasting time, thorough, but doesn't make unnecessary suggestions or tarry. The ophthalmic nurse I was assigned was also very nice, friendly, and fun to work with. The office is nice, clean, and comfortable - both in accommodations and temperature. The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is two-fold: 1. I had never been before and had no idea where to go in the building on my first visit. Upon walking in, there are no signs or information readily available to guide newcomers to their proper destination. As my appointment was first thing in the morning, no one was on the first floor at all. Nobody available to ask where to go, etc. I ended up getting on the elevator and heading to the second floor to be told my doc was downstairs and to use the self-check in kiosk at the back by the waiting room. 2. There were many, many people packed into the small waiting room for first thing in the a.m. appointments, all of whom seemed like me, confused and unsure of the self-check in process. The front-desk clerk didn't arrive until about 15 minutes after everyone's scheduled appointment, thus making an additional 10 minutes or so of waiting to get everyone properly registered in the system and to have the nurses start coming in calling out names to take folks back. Overall, not a bad wait. I've certainly had worse elsewhere, just seemed a tad unorganized for first thing in the morning appts. That aside, I loved Dr. Deepa, and will certainly return. Thanks! read more

Another reason I was so excited to move back to Nashville was to get back to some quality health care. After almost 2.5 years of sub-par care in Miami, I was eager to get back to a health care hub and some world-renowned medical institutions. Vandy, I'm all in. While living in Miami, ran afoul of all manner of swamp bugs and disasters not meant for human consumption. Whilst walking home one day, some game of thrones beast flew into my eye. I did my best to get it out but was convinced some manner of 'monsters inside' would be coming for me. I went to my GP as well as an eye doctor. Despite blurriness and seeing something in my eye, 'nothing' was there. Two doctors. Same outcome. I, sadly, accepted my fate. Once I moved back to Nashville, I started exploring different eye doctors. Not only had it been since the last time I lived in Nashville that I'd had an eye exam, I had to know that I wasn't crazy. I had to know that I wasn't seeing things. I was scheduled to see Dr. Johns and I am so grateful my doctor karma was good. Dr. Johns is thorough, patient, smart, conversational, and no-nonsense. She got all the background about what led me to see her, my eye health history, concerns, family history, and habits (computer screen, good light, past eye problems, etc.). Not only did her complete eye exam reveal that I had 20/20 vision (as opposed to what the DMV claimed I had; really? The DMV makes diagnoses now?), she verified that I had a small cyst under my right eye. Yes. The same cyst that two Miami physicians (one being an eye doctor) couldn't see, was clear as day to Dr. Johns. [Point of order: the incompetence of medical care I received in Miami is terrifying. And, pervasive.] Dr. Johns was able to give me knowledge about my situation as well as how to monitor it. Thankfully, it's benign and can be removed if I so choose. I know what I'm looking for and how to take charge of my health. Knowledge, when it comes to your health, is powerful. I'm appreciative of skilled physicians who can give it to me. I'll come to to the VEI as long as I live in Middle Tennessee. read more

Recently I've been writing more reviews about medical places than restaurants. Oh well, when one gets older priorities change. Since February of 2017 I've become legally blind in my left eye, my primary care physician (who is excellent - Dr. William Serafin of Vanderbilt) suggested that I see Dr. Uyen Lam Tran, also of Vanderbilt. I found out afterwards that she is head of department for cornea, cataract and refractive surgery. So I went and saw her and she rated my cataract as a 3.5 out of 4. We set up the surgery for 4/3 and did it in the Cool Springs location - I have been told that it can't be done "on campus" because the parking garage is on floors 3 and 4 and they don't want vibration during surgery. I can see again in my left eye. I'm still doing eye drops and wear a shield over the eye at night. Many thanks to Dr. Tran for superb skills and service! read more

The nurse/nurse aid Kim was nasty, incompetent and had such a bad attitude, that I had no choice but to walk out before even seeing the doctor. read more

I waited over an hour for my appointment and ended up having to reschedule. Obviously they were way overbooked. They wasted my entire day. I understand healthcare isn't always the most pleasant experience but this was downright dystopian. It felt like the dmv. I have never been so confused and felt so disrespected by healthcare providers. At this point, I'd rather suffer than deal with this practice. Unacceptable. They also made me schedule an appointment for an injection before I've even seen the doctor for a routine exam. What a scam. read more

We drove 6 hours to come to Vanderbilt eye institute from Jc tn. to see Dr. Irina De La Hurta. My mom had a bleed in her eye on the weekend and they said they could see her on a Saturday night. Wow!! We drove straight from our hospital to the eye institute in Nashville and got here about 12:00 am and the Dr. on call was so nice and eager to help my mom that late. Him and another doctor took her up evaluated her and scheduled her to come back the next day to see the retina specialist/ surgeon on Sunday morning. They made us feel at ease and comfortable explaining everything to us and that meant a lot. Both gentlemen had such a great bedside manners with my mom, which was great because she can't hear very well and couldn't see them for the blood in her eye. I would give them 's if I could!!!!! Thank you so much!!! Lisa read more

Amazing eye specialists. Really, where does Vanderbilt find these special doctors? I have been to (three). Dr. Schenk, Dr. Rust, and Dr. Evans. Every one has been book smart, sympathetic, explained the plan for my eyes, and insightful in response to my problem at that particular time. Best of all had they had answers for me and a cure. read more

When I first got my glasses, one lens was not even worked on at all. It was just glass. Then I had to wait another few weeks for the replacement. I know I paid for scratch resistance and lens darkening/transitiions. My glasses scratched heavily within a few months and the lens darkening barely happened when I was outside. To top it off, I could barely read street signs when I was driving. Unfortunately, I moved away after I got my glasses. It took going to my new doctor to make me realize how much I was ripped off from here. read more

Dr. Flemmons has been wonderful with our daughter, she has been seeing Dr. Flemmons since she was 7 days old and will indefinitely. She is always caring & tentative. read more

Awful office staff. Policy over patients. Gross office. Not sure if it was cleaned. There are better providers elsewhere.

Not user friendly. I went in for an infected eyelid and the first thing the doctor said is "pull that mask over your nose." Dr. Kuchtey came across as cold and uncaring, more concerned about political correctness than offering patients a nurturing and welcome environment. I didn't even get eye salve, something I'd be prescribed at UCLA in Los Angeles from where I recently relocated. Won't be going back to VEI. read more

I have read and scoured every review, bc ....eyes! I saw reviews from excellent to a one star. HOWEVER... I did not see ANYTHING about their vision after surgery. Friends, Dr Podol is an incredible surgeon!!! There are pages on my computer that i thought we're a yellow or amber theme. Um... NO!! They are white! I had my L eye done Thursday. I wouldn't change a thing! Front desk folks were business. That's WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR!!! The nurse I was assigned to, Brenda, was absolutely the sweetest thing I've ever had the pleasure of working with! Held my hand from start to finish. She prepped me, in came Doctor P, confirming how I wanted my eye done... (wanted left eye a bifocal) then the anesthetist came in and introduced himself, then the surgical nurse, every one of them angels! When I did my follow up my reg doctor said this, and I swear I'm not lying: This is absolutely the most beautiful job I have ever seen! So.... If you got your little feelers bent, who cares. The result is absolutely the best...so remember, results is what you are after. read more

I have Thyroid Eye Disease, with head aches and fairly severe intermittent eye pain. I have hav other rare eye diseases in the past. I also have a complex medical history. My Dr advised me to see a neuro-ophthalmologist. He sent a referral and I called them to make an appointment 2 days later. The rude woman that answered the phone told me my Dr could not refer me to them because he was a family Dr and not an ophthalmologist or neurologist. No matter how many time I tried to explain her answer was NO! I was forced to see another ophthalmologist. Today they called to set up an appointment. I explained what happened and they said that didn't happen. I would not go to ANY VANDERBILT MEDICAL PRACTICE!!!! Clearly they suck at customer service! read more

I am really happy with Dr. Deepa. I saw her after being seen for awhile at another optometrist. I was struggling with dry eyes and on prescription eye drops that stung and made it even harder to see. Dr. Deepa did a fantastic job of determining that my contacts were the problem. She recommended wearing glasses for a year (which fixed the issue) and started me on a new type of contact lens. I still can't wear contacts every day, but now that I understand my condition, I'm totally fine with that. Dr. Deepa is kind, thoughtful, and a very perceptive doctor. I am happy with the care she has provided me. The front desk check in process is the only reason I gave 4 instead of 5 stars. The check in and check out are at the same place, and I had to wait 10 minutes while other people were checking in in order to check out. The front desk has also forgotten to print out my contact lens and eyeglass prescription on the last 2 visits, (and I forgot to ask), so that means another trip there to retrieve that. The process would be improved if there were separate check in and check out and if the check out always provided the printed eyeglass/contact prescriptions. read more

I will not be going there anymore. I've tried morning AND afternoon appointments on varying days of the week, and it doesn't matter. They just flat-out schedule too many patients. It is unacceptable to not have seen the doctor at noon if you have a 9:30 appointment time. The waiting room set-up is confusing and chaotic, and there appears to be absolutely NO logical process for moving patients through the stages. There should at least be an "express lane" type of system where, if you happen to have a "normal" checkup with no serious problems and no new medications necessary, you don't have to be sent out to wait ANOTHER half hour in the waiting room labyrinth for the doctor to grace you with 5 minutes of her presence. All this rigamarole is AFTER driving on treacherous I-440 and navigating the parking garage and multiple elevators just to get there. read more

I have been to VEI twice. My first experience, in fall 2018, was positive. However, responsible patient care can fall through the cracks in a system as corporate as Vanderbilt's. I saw VEI for the second time today; the issue: eczema on my eyelids. When scheduling the appointment, I described my symptoms and specifically inquired whether I should see derm or an eye doc for this issue. VEI happily penciled me into their schedule. Issue solved. Or not. At today's appointment, the doctor seemed mystified that her office would recommend I see them, referred me to derm, and suggested I buy an OTC ointment in the meantime. I spent less than five minutes with the doctor and traded a morning off work plus hundreds of dollars in coinsurance/deductible costs for the advice that I hit up my local drug store. Worse, there was no sense that a patient should be anything but pleased by this result. Patients deserve better. My first trip to VEI cost $450 after insurance. It makes me sick that I will have to pay that much again in exchange for a referral that could and should have been made at the time I requested an appointment. In a system as large as Vanderbilt's, issues like these are treated as small potatoes, but for the individual patients it's time and income that most of us can't afford to waste. So disappointing. read more

I made multiple trips to the Vanderbilt Eyes Institute last year and earlier this year, and while my experience with Dr. Dora S. Mathe was good, dealing with the billing department was an absolute nightmare. Coverage for my condition was actually split between both my health and vision insurance, so I can understand that it might be a bit complicated for billing to deal with. What is inexcusable is when I have to make more than half a dozen phone calls each to my health insurer, vision insurer, and the Vanderbilt Eye Institute to sort out billing issues. To my surprise, my insurers were very helpful and consistent in telling me what would and would not be covered. I relayed this information to Vanderbilt for billing purposes and they messed up. Multiple times. Additionally, they tried to bill me for contact lenses that were fully covered by my insurance before they even filed a claim with my insurance company. After a bit of back and forth with Vanderbilt and the insurance company, I finally managed to explain to the billing department where they messed up. I thought the issue was cleared up, until a month later when they tried billing me for the contact again and I found out that they still hadn't filed a claim with the insurance company. My experience here with Dr. Dora S. Mathe was good, but that was greatly overshadowed by the incompetence of the billing department. Do not go here unless you like spending hours upon hours on the phone with your insurance company and the billing department. 1/10 would not recommend. read more

While I have been happy with the quality of service, the timeliness leaves a bad taste in my mouth. After years of glaucoma services in other states I decided to try the Vanderbilt eye clinic. I have always been able to get in and have the three main tests completed in 90 minutes or so. I'm going on two hours past my appt time and have only had one portion of the exam. Plan for a half day or more if you come. I guess that is why I was the only non-retiree in the three (!) waiting rooms. read more

If you ever need your eyes professional seen this is the best location the eyes are very important Vanderbilt takes great care of their patients which is why their the number one place in Tennessee they have all services that your always need read more

Following with my prior complaint, the patient relations rep reached out to me, here is the explanation: 1) interns can do eye exam too even I said i made appointment with Dr. Deepa and she did not even show up at all; 2) they also said the $91 was actually for the cost I took flu shot from my doctor who also worked at Vanderbilt, I told them I have Vanderbilt insurance and my preventive flu shot was always covered for free from very beginning I have Vandy insurance ... How much a flu shot would cost if I pay the whole price? $20 or $40? this is not a decent explain at all. 3) patient relations rep is very nice but it seems there is nothing she can do. My point is I went there to do an eye exam, right? still frustrated .... read more

The eye care that I received at the Cool Springs location for a scratched cornea was fine overall - drops prescribed. I healed within a few days. The frustrating part was the WAIT time - an hour and a half. But, they were fitting me in so that was to be expected. Upon my SCHEDULED return checkup visit I had to leave before being seen because I was still in the outside waiting area after more than 30 minutes during my lunch from work. Either this is out of the ordinary for them, or they are regularly over booking their appointments. read more

My husband was having eye problems ,pressure to low after cataract and stent implant, and our regular eye doctor was not able to figure out why. He sutured up the stent but pressure was still to low. We wanted a second opinion and evaluation and maybe some advice on what might be next to try. - I told all this to the receptionist when I called as we didn't want to waste time having to go to Nashville. We got there and an aide/nurse who took us in the office was a bit rude. She read off the medications he was using which must have been on a letter our regular doctor submitted. The normal eye pressure machine was not working and she had to used a hand held meter, and she checked his eye pressure, and the readings she got were high, normal in the stent eye and high in the other. She had him read an eye chart and said that was fine. Back out to waiting room. Called back in to see the doctor. He looked in his eyes said he didn't see anything and since the pressure was fine to go home and if the pressure drops again call and he will refer us to the glaucoma specialist. We felt appalled at the service considering the reason we were there. We got nothing in writing as to the results of his mini exam and felt we were brushed off and they didn't want to do anything. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, we get a bill of $401 for that visit which wasn't even as thorough as one we would have gotten from any optometrist. Nothing like adding insult to injury. Then we returned to our regular doctor, and yes the pressure was up in other eye, to much, but the pressure was still to low in the effected eye,went from 3 to 5. This was disgraceful by any means. read more

Horrible experience. I specifically asked when I made the appointment if a face shield was acceptable instead of a mask, that I pass out after a while of wearing a mask. He put me on hold to check and came back and said the shield was acceptable. I got to my appointment and was checked in and was sitting in the chair with the nurse. After she finished she came back and told me the doctor could not see me due to the shield. I had already told them about the pain in my eye and the problems I was having. She told me that didn't matter, she was sorry, I would not be seen by the doctor. She blamed it on the call center. It's not the call center's fault. He checked. It's administration or lack thereof. They sure didn't bother to send my an email or phone call about their changes. I drove 45minutes to go there to get an earlier appointment due to the pain in my eye. Do you think they cared?? Absolutely not. read more

Horrible experience. They were very rough with my 11 month old son. They forcefully turned his head and attempted to pry his eyes open. I was in shock. I will never return. I felt like we were not treated as humans- or maybe because I have a black son. read more

This clinic is ridiculous. I have called multiple times to get my appointment changed and still haven't heard anything back from them and it's been two days and they said they tagged my request as "priority" obviously not read more

My daughter hasn't even been seen here before and I've been treated like garbage. They will not perform the exam the neurologist is wanting and that's the whole reason for the referral there. When I called back to Memphis to tell them of how I was being treated I was told that they got a lot of complaints about this place. Guess I will be cancelling her appointment due to the lack of care at this so called eye center. I was even told by a fellow mother to not take my child here because they do not care and no one returns calls. She is leaving and going out of state. Do not waste your time if your child has tuberous sclerosis. Go elsewhere. They will not perform an ERG even if your child is needing it. read more

Always overbooked. Long long waits. And they don't seem to care. Attention to detail does not seem to be their strength. They've had two chances. Most of our doctors are within the Vanderbilt system. But, we'll find an independent eye doctor going forward. Ridiculous. read more

On Tuesday I was standing outside Carter's Vintage Guitar waiting for my Uber. I love Carter's so much. I dropped off my husband's mandolin for a little bit of TLC. As I was waiting some debris flew into my eyeball and I felt sudden, searing pain. I did not want to say anything to my friends in Nashville because, since I'm gigging here before heading on tour, who knows if it's going to be a 'thing?' I waited a day or so for it to resolve like a normal person, but since it didn't and I still felt like a small BMW was in my right eye I got on Yelp. I found Vanderbilt Eye Clinic which had mixed reviews... mostly people complaining because they didn't understand billing or Lasix sales. The reviews on the docs were stellar. I took the plunge and called on Thursday afternoon, and they worked me in at 8:30am Friday morning. I hauled myself out of bed and Ubered over there. After a reasonable of a wait since they worked me in I saw the nicest Dr (a Dr Rachel Sobel) who examined me, pulled out the debris, inserted a prescription contact lens that will help my eyeball heal, gave me antibiotic drops, told me to take out the lens in a week, and to use Thera Tears. That's it. No more pain. And, by some miracle I can somehow see better. There is a tiny bit of correction in that bandage lens that is just what I guess I needed. I guess I will now start wearing one contact after my eye is fully healed. In the meantime, the shows will go on, and if you're in Nashville and you need excellent eye care go there... Vanderbilt Eye Clinic is amazing. :) read more

My brother who is developmentally disabled saw 2 of the doctors there that had great reviews. The first one saw him with the social worker that works for the group home. The social worker indicated that he might not be cooperative so the doctor turned him down for cataract surgery that he needed. Three months later I took him to see another doctor there and he said that he didn't need cataract surgery and all he needed was a good pair of glasses (he has always been extremely nearsighted). I was not satisfied with that so he was taken to another ophthalmologist in Jackson who said that his cataracts were so bad that he couldn't see 2 inches in front of his face and agreed to do the surgery. He has since had the cataract surgeries and he now has the best vision he has ever had in his life. He was cooperative and he did great afterwards. Don't think for a second that the 2 doctors that we saw there at Vanderbilt have any compassion for anyone with a developmental disability. Don't waste you time and effort. Find another place to go. read more