Duke Eye Center of North Durham

This rating is probably lower than they deserve in terms of eye care, but I am writing this on a day when I am trying to talk with a human being about my scheduled appointment this Friday and after three calls I have not even come close. Duke has 4 or 5 'eye centers' in Durham, but each location has the same number and they route you through the same choices and every time I choose to speak to a person, they tell me they can't complete my call, try later. The reason I'm calling is to tell them I can't stay more than an hour and a half on Friday. Typically, I am there for at least an hour and a half, seeing various people who look at my eyes and ask questions before I see the person I have the appointment with. Some days I am flexible and I can afford to spend two hours there, but not this Friday. Unfortunately, like many big companies, the Duke Eye Centers will only communicate with you on their terms, ie when you show up at one of their centers.

This review is inspired by the service and assistance provided to my wife and I by Ms. Nagemah Newby who is a Technical Assistant in the Retina Injection Clinic. Having to undergo eye injections every four weeks is a very stressful and daunting ordeal. It is something that is not welcome like Christmas morning. And having to plan for the scheduled appointments makes it less appealing; reserving hotel accommodations a day before the appointment, driving 480+ miles round trip from northern Virginia is no small task. However, during our appointment on Nov 19, 2019; the injection room environment was different. There was a noticeable elevated level of professionalism, simply because of the observed way Ms. Newby went about her various tasks in preparing for the attending physician. When she spoke, she was very pleasant and engaging, yet maintaining a very professional demeanor. Her entire demeanor reminded me of the level of poise and expertise that was expected of me when I worked in the health care environment in the seventies. Ms. Newby presence and action was truly medicinal, which proves to me that attitude as well as professional and technical expertise plays a significant role in a patient's wellness. Ms. Newby certainly receives five stars from me for contributing to the comfort of my wife's injection session, which otherwise would have been a bland, mechanical , antiseptic ordeal.

I have two eye diseases that affect my vision (glaucoma and keratoconus). Before these diseases started, I wore standard RGP contact lenses for years. But after the glaucoma began in the left eye, plus increased keratoconus in the right eye, and severe dry eye issues, I couldn't use regular RGP lenses anymore. I switched to scleral lenses for dry eyes but after my recent glaucoma tube surgery, the scleral could no longer fit in my left eye. I didn't think there were any options for me except glasses, but my glaucoma surgeon referred me to the optometrists at Duke Eye Center North Durham. I found out that the Drs there specialize in lenses for patients with problems like mine and problems much worse too. Now I'm wearing a very comfortable hydrogel soft lens in the glaucoma eye and in my right eye I'm wearing a scleral Zenlens designed specifically to fit keratoconus eyes. My vision is 20-20 with these lenses, and they feel great with my dry eyes. I never thought it could happen after my glaucoma surgery. I highly recommend these Duke optometrists for difficult vision problems that might be helped with specialized contact lens fitting.

I can't speak for other locations but I can speak for both the customer service here and the total inefficiency of their system. I was forced to speak with a rude and very slow associate for 20 minutes and provide what is typically required in the paperwork for a new patient that one fills out at the time of the appointment, just to be told that they don't have availability for over a week and that they accept my insurance. I was uncomfortable during the entire process and when I spoke to a manager about removing my information as I would not be a patient there, she said there was no way to remove patients from their system. That is absolutely ridiculous. Any information you can add to a database, you can also delete. However, she was courteous and understanding and assured me she would do her best to look into it. I have no guarantee of this however and the questions asked were more invasive than usual. Finally, and what really compelled me to write this review, which I practically NEVER do, was the total incompetency and rude and inefficient service of the man I spoke with who took all my information. He was awful. I literally called 5 places back to back before this one, and was on and off the phone in 2 min or less. This place seems awful I definitely would stay far away. Not even worth a phone call.