Finding an Eye Care Professional: "The National Eye Institute does not provide referrals or recommend specific eye care professionals. However, you may wish to consider the following ways of finding a professional to provide your eye care.
You can:
Ask family members and friends about eye care professionals they use.
Ask your family doctor for the name of a local eye care specialist.
Call the department of ophthalmology or optometry at a nearby hospital or university medical center.
Contact a state or county association of ophthalmologists or optometrists. These groups, usually called academies or societies, may have lists of eye care professionals with specific information on specialty and experience.
Contact your insurance company or health plan to learn whether it has a list of eye care professionals that are covered under your plan.
At a bookstore or library, check on available journals and books about choosing a physician and medical treatment. A library reference specialist can help you identify books on finding health care professionals. Here are some examples:
Most large libraries have the reference set The ABMS Compendium of Certified Medical Professionals, which lists board-certified ophthalmologists, each with a small amount of biographical information.
Each year usually in August the magazine U.S. News and World Report features an article that rates hospitals in the United States.
The Consumer's Guide to Top Doctors provides a state-by-state listing of medical specialists most frequently mentioned in a survey of doctors. "
