How to choose a mobile optometry provider
What to ask a visiting optometry provider, for schools, workplaces, retirement villages and aged care homes.
What to ask a visiting optometry provider, for schools, workplaces, retirement villages and aged care homes.
A vision screening tells you who to refer on. A comprehensive eye examination gives you a diagnosis, a prescription, a management plan and a written report.
Ask which one a provider does before anything else. A comprehensive examination should cover all of the following.
Distance and near acuity, and a prescription if one is needed.
For glaucoma, which stays painless until late.
Lids, cornea and lens, including cataract.
Examined, and imaged where the person can manage it.
Checked against the new prescription.
How the two eyes work together. Particularly relevant for children.
Not everyone will manage every test. A good report names which one, and why.
Ask for all of this before anyone attends. A provider should have it ready.
For every optometrist attending. You can check it yourself on the public register.
A current certificate of currency, plus public liability.
For schools. In Queensland this is a Blue Card.
For aged care, plus a national police certificate.
To whatever standard you set for visiting practitioners.
They will hold health information about the people they see.
Ask too whether the optometrist holds a scheduled medicines endorsement. If they do, more can be treated on site instead of referred out.
These three things differ depending on where the visit happens. Check that a provider handles all of them the way your setting requires.
| Setting | Who consents | Who receives the report | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools | A parent or guardian, in writing before the visit | The parent, directly | Bulk billed with a valid Medicare card |
| Workplaces | The individual staff member | The individual | Privately billed. Medicare does not fund employer arranged eye examinations at a workplace |
| Retirement villages | The resident | The resident, and family where they ask | Bulk billed with a valid Medicare card |
| Aged care homes | The resident, or their person responsible | The care team, the GP, and the person responsible | Bulk billed with a valid Medicare card |
A general approval from your organisation is not consent. It comes from the individual, or from the person entitled to give it for them, and it is recorded for each person by name.
Keep consent to be examined separate from consent to buy glasses. They are different transactions.
A report you can act on names what was assessed, what was found, the prescription if there is one, what could not be assessed and why, and what happens next.
Ask about turnaround. Six weeks later is too late to act on.
Whoever the table above says, and nobody who has no right to it.
In a form your system can actually file.
Ask whether they go out on the day, or come back to you to action.
The examination is bulk billed. Glasses are not, and dispensing is where a provider earns its money, so read this part closely.
| Ask | Why |
|---|---|
| Are prices published? | A family or a staff member can check a published price before the visit. |
| How large is the range? | Whether people choose from the full range, or a short list. |
| Who approves an order? | The person having the glasses, or their representative, with the price known first. |
| What warranty applies? | What happens when a frame breaks, or a prescription is not tolerated. |
| Who fits them? | Whether someone returns to fit and adjust them. |
Nobody should have to buy glasses in order to have their eyes examined.
Ask where the optometrist will work: a vehicle parked on site, a room you provide, or at the bedside. Sites differ, and a provider who only works one way will not suit every building.
Agree the times that do not work. Class timetables, meal rounds, medication rounds and shift changes are not negotiable.
Ask how much of your staff's time the visit takes. One point of contact should be enough.
Take these to any provider you are considering, including the one you already use.
Ali Selman, Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Optometry. AHPRA registered optometrist. Last reviewed 23 August 2026.
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