Eye Institute Austin

Competent doctors but impossible to get a prescription filled due to being understaffed. Front desk people are condescending and cold. Chip reader for credit card requires both a swipe and then insertion of chip resulting in double charge! Ask them to bill you for payment to avoid the double billing. BBB should also review this company!

Dr. Lori Murphy saved my vision!
I had gone here last year and had a good experience with Dr. Murphy — my first impression was that she was intelligent, friendly and interacts very well with her patients. So when I started noticing some changes to my vision a year later, I didn’t hesitate to make an appointment with Dr. Murphy. The news wasn’t good — Dr. Murphy told me she needed to refer me to a retina specialist and stood beside me while the front desk clerk made an appointment at [another five star facility] that very next morning. Dr. Murphy knew what I would need, and referred me to the best dr. in town that she knew. They set up an appointment for the next morning. Now, three weeks later, I am one week post op, and doing exceptionally well. I will be telling her in person next time I see her, but for now must resort to singing her praises here on Unilocal.Thank you Dr. Murphy!

I am a patient new to Dr. Rylander. He is great: knowledgeable and very caring. The staff was wonderful (I feel bad I didn’t get some names so I could call them out).
About two weeks after I saw Dr. Rylander, my old glasses just fell apart. I emphasize that these were glasses I have had for many years from my previous ophthalmologist and optician in Corpus Christi.
Looking rather pathetic in my even older glasses, I went to Armando at the Optical Department there at the eye institute. I showed him my broken glasses and asked if there was anything he could do.
After he took them apart, cleaned them, and put them together again, he re-​fitted them on me. Then he took the «even older» glasses and cleaned them and readjusted them.
This group receives my highest recommendation. They are the BEST!

Unilocal ratings for the Eye Institute run from 1 to 5 stars. Not everyone had the same experience. One who gave the Eye Institute a 5 star ratings says that he was able to contact his doctor on the weekend and the physician agreed to open the office so he could address his concerns. At the other end of the service experience was one who claimed that he was ignored for 45 min. Another had to come back several times just to get and complete an appointment. None of those who gave low ratings identified who slighted them.
I have had minor problems with the support staff but no more than at other medical facilities.
When I encounter a clerk who doesn’t want to give me any personal attention, I ask to see someone else. I have always been able to find someone committed to providing outstanding service at the Eye Institute.
One example is the problem I had in getting new glasses after cataract surgery. The prescription for one eye was completely different from the other so I couldn’t use my old glasses. The first person that I talked to at the eyeglass outlet associated with the Eye Institute didn’t think they were authorized by my insurance company to sell me glasses at a discount.
Working from the list provided by Humana, I checked out 6 other vendors. They all came up with a similar story. One said they could provide the lenses but I would have to pay full price for the frames.
I went back to the Eye Institute and this time I found a clerk that was willing take the time on the phone and the Internet to address my problem. She found a way to provide me with a new pair of glasses at no charge.
How should I rate the service? I could give the Eye Institute low marks because the first clerk gave me a run around and probably wasted 3 hours of my time. I am more disposed to give them high marks because the second clerk was service oriented and spent the extra time required to find a way to get Humana and Medicare to pay for my new reading glasses.

Had an eye emergency and randomly made an appointment with Dr. Ross. He was funny and caring, from the moment I walked in totally freaked out he took such good care of me. The entire staff was very helpful and made sure I was being taken care of. This is my new eye place and I look forward to going back to get my new contacts!

I am so glad I found Dr Rylander! I had been misdiagnosed by three different doctors before finally seeing the head doctor at my former ophthalmology office. After some drastic treatment and care I wasn’t happy with, I sought a second opinion at Eye Institute of Austin, after reading reviews. Dr. Rylander did a much more thorough exam than any of the other doctors did, and immediately said my problem was the result of a chronic condition I have, and said all the crap the other doctor put me through (wearing a hard plastic lens for several weeks, which didn’t work, followed by corneal scraping) was unnecessary! He was especially unhappy that scraping had been done. Luckily, my eye wasn’t totally ruined, but I immediately transferred my care over to him.

OK, I’m NOT naming names, here, as I am not vindictive, by nature. What follows, however, absolutely happened at The Eye Institute of Austin. I had a very small lump on my eyelid. I was thinking that I might have a foreign body in it. I called, and they told me to come right in. After a short wait in the waiting room, I was directed to a room I thought was a consultation room. There was no wash-​up sink, no exam table. The doctor came in, after a brief time, and we exchanged greetings. He then said, «Let me take a look at your eyelid.» I started. «Wait, aren’t you going to put on examination gloves?» Keep in mind, the door to the room was closed, after I sat down. This MD had to turn the knob to get in. He said, «Let’s just see what’s going on,» and proceeded to lift my eyelid, look at it, and move it around, a bit. He did this with his bare fingers! I come from a profession that practices strict procedures to prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens. This MD was WAY out of line. I don’t care if he handled no blood, previously. He certainly handled the damn doorknob, and that certainly had the possibility of being full of bacteria and who knows what else. As it turned out, I was told I had a small stye. I’m sure his ungloved hands could have really helped things out. It did self-​resolve, FWIW. I will NEVER go back to this place. No gloves=no place to get medical exams, of any type.

I have been a patient of Dr. Gary Rylander for probably close to 20 years. He treats all of my family members, including my father who had an unfortunate accident in the 1960s where a fish hook ended up in his eye — yes, really. Dr. Rylander has performed multiple, complicated surgeries on my father’s eye, including a second corneal transplant in 2014 which was complicated by an abscess in his eye that took an enormous amount of time and careful attention on Dr. Rylander’s part to heal. He saw my father every day — literally — for many weeks so that he could monitor his eye, and finally he said the eye was healed enough for him to perform the transplant. Because my father’s eye was so damaged from all his many eye surgeries and the abscess, Dr. Rylander said there was only a 50 percent chance that the transplant would work. But it did. All due to his excellent care.
I am extremely near-​sighted, and Dr. Rylander has told me many times that because of that, my retinas are much thinner than those of a person with normal eyesight (because as the eye becomes more myopic, the retina changes from a round shape to a football shape, which causes the retina to become thinner). He has explained to me through the years that because of this, I am at a much higher risk of a detached retina (extremely serious and can cause blindness if not treated immediately), or a retinal tear. He told me all the signs to watch out for and said if any of these happened or if I had any sudden change in my vision, to call their office immediately. Well, four nights ago I started seeing a small, round black dot — a bit smaller in diameter than a pencil eraser — floating across my field of vision. It seemed fairly innocuous, but it was different than the many other «floaters» I’ve had. So I called Eye Institute of Austin and Dr. McKinley called me right back, listened to my situation, and said that it could be nothing serious, but that it could also be a sign of a retina problem so to go to their office the next morning and they would work me in.
Dr. Rylander carefully examined my eye and told me that there was an area he was suspicious of – he thought it might be a tear in my retina. He picked up the phone, called Austin Retina Associates, and got me in to see Dr. Nixon that afternoon. Dr. Nixon confirmed that I did indeed have a tear in my retina, and said that if I had not come in it would have detached within a week, which would have been a much more serious, complicated (and not always successful) surgery. I could have lost sight in that eye completely. He repaired the tear within an hour using a laser.
Folks, all this to try to explain how wonderful Dr. Gary Rylander is. I’ve had few physicians in my life who are as compassionate, caring, and incredibly competent. I’m sure all the other ophthalmologists in his group are also wonderful, but I am such a fan of Dr. Gary that I always book my appointments with him. He saved my eyesight, and I will be forever grateful.

I delt with 4 separate people while I was at my appointment: Yvette– the front desk, David– the technician that did a lot of work with me, Dr. Lori Murphy– my doctor, and Cheryl– who helped me with my contacts. I can say that from the moment I came in the door, I was very well taken care of by each of these individuals. I felt like each of them really did care about me and wanted the best for me, not just a job they had to do
I would highly recommend Dr. Lori and the staff at the Eye Institute…

I was having a hard time trying to find a opthamologist and not an optometrist in south Austin that also had a good review. I prefer opthamologist because of my family history with eye issues. So I like to have more exstensive exam. So I decided to try this place out. For the most part I was happy with my exam. Then my exam was done and the Dr. took me to the contact and eye glasses area. I was told by the young girl working the counter that I could not get contacts because I would need to be fitted and the lady that does that left at 3:30. I said well I wish some one had told me this because it is the whole reason I am here and it is not convenient for me to come back because I live and work down south, 15 miles away and a 45 minute drive in traffic. I also did not understand why I would need to be fitted if I had been wearing contacts for years. I was very annoyed and won’t get into all the details but the people working the check in/​out counter could tell I was upset and in the long run helped me out and had me fill out a form to get my records from my previous eye doctor.
Needed to add an update:
Now it’s 7 months later and I was having trouble seeing with my contacts but was fine when I wore my old glasses that were from a previous prescription. I had no desire to go back to this place. So I set an appointment at Tanglewood Vision Center off Slaughter and yes they mis-​perscribed me. So I have to return the unused contacts I bought from 1800contacts and get new ones with the right prescription. What a hassle.

Made an appointment.
Showed up early.
Sat for 45 min, was ignored.
Asked.
Was told «We haven’t even looked at your chart yet.»
Walked out.

I’m in my 20’s and I’ve had a lot of problems with one of my eyes. Cataract surgery, torn retina, etc. I see Dr. Smith, and he is AMAZING. I know of no other doctor that, when I call on a Sunday with an emergency, he drives in and opens up the office to see me. When I had surgery on my eye, he gave me his personal number and told me to call him with any concerns. Even after he had to refer me to a retinal specialist (Dr. Levitan at Austin Retina– ALSO AMAZING), he still called me personally to follow up on what was happening with my eye. He has truly saved my vision numerous times, and it’s obvious he really care about his patients. Can’t say enough good things about this practice!

I had an eye emergency on a Friday night. I called the after hours line and Dr. McKinley met me and figured out the problem. Thus relieveing me of severe pain. He is a phenomenal physician and I highly recommend him and his team for any eye care.

I see Dr. Todd Smith. Great, nice guy. Always takes care of me.
Going to the DR is never fun. Oh well, gotta go anyways. Can’t be having any eye problems.
My biggest wish is if they would let you schedule a year in advance. WHY NOT? I always forget and then have to wait for a postcard to remind me and then it takes 2+ months to get an appt.

I have found that the doctors here are knowledgeable but not as thorough as I had to come back a few times to get my eyes examined again. The Rx I was given made me feel off balance and gave me headaches. Spent another 35 minutes to have them reexamined on a second trip, and they STILL don’t feel right. We went back and forth on my vision, and I never felt like I was getting my point across on what was wrong with the current Rx.
I gave two stars because they were all very friendly, but I recommend a more qualified set of optometrists if you really want the best for your eyes.

Aye, yii, yii, yiiii!
Over the weekend, I sustained a really scary eye injury. The ER told me I needed to follow up with my ophthalmologist today just to be on the safe side, so I started on that journey this morning.
My call to my primary care physician’s office for the referral couldn’t have been met with a colder or more indifferent bureaucratic «shunt him to voice mail» attitude. That was an inauspicious start to the process.
In contrast, my phone call to this office 30 minutes later couldn’t have been met with a more caring and concerned attitude. Despite the fact that my regular ophthalmologist was in surgery today, I was able to see his equally experienced associate.
Even though I had a named appointment time, calling on the spur of the moment, I fully expected to be «worked in» between patients and to be given a perfunctory emergency exam. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was taken in within a couple of minutes of my designated appointment time. The medical assistant was calm and thorough in doing the basic visual acuity and intraocular pressure exams. She told me she was going to find the doctor and he’d be right in.
Within 2 – 3 minutes after she left the room, in steps Dr. Rylander. He patiently listened to my story of how the injury occurred, and commenced with my examination. I must say this was the most thorough retinal exam I’ve ever received. Not for one moment did I feel rushed; in fact, I was getting worried that he’d found something significant because of how carefully he inspected my eye. Fortunately, his exam confirmed that there were no new developments from my previous exam and no immediate concerns. Dr. Rylander told me what to be on the lookout for over the next several weeks, and what my next step should be if any of the symptoms he described occurred. His exam alone easily lasted 20 minutes.
At checkout, I was given the option of getting a card to remind me of my year-​and-​a-​half overdue regular exam or of scheduling now. I was able to obtain a convenient appointment within a reasonable time frame, and provided one of those ubiquitous pairs of stylish sunglasses to wear out into the bright sunlight.
I was treated with efficiency, dignity, respect, and compassion from reception to departure. I’m very pleased to have this group in charge of my eye care.