Ophthalmologist for Maccabi members

An ophthalmologistat Maccabi is an ophthalmologist who is in an arrangement with the Maccabi health fund. If you need the service of an ophthalmologist, it is advisable to choose a doctor who will meet all your needs and can manage, evaluate, monitor and treat the condition of your eyes. Today, choosing the best ophthalmologist can be difficult, since there are many ophthalmologists in the medical market.

Membership in one of the health funds allows you to choose a doctor from the list of ophthalmologists the fund offers, to consult private doctors who work with the fund, and, if needed, to receive partial or full financial assistance for a variety of eye treatments or surgeries.

The Maccabi health fund

Maccabi, or Maccabi Healthcare Services, is the second-largest health fund among the health funds operating in Israel. As of today, the Maccabi health fund has more than two million members and enjoys substantial influence over the health system in Israel. The Maccabi health fund provides its members with a wide range of health and medical services, through specialists in the fields of medicine and health, and through various diagnostic and treatment institutes. Free choice of the treating physician is the basis of Maccabi's service method.

Choosing a Maccabi ophthalmologist

In addition to choosing an ophthalmologist from the health fund's pool of doctors, there are other important factors worth being aware of that will help in the process of choosing the treating physician. The first and decisive factor is the reason for the referral – in certain cases, the best treatment may require an ophthalmologist who specializes in a particular field. The reason for this is that ophthalmology is a broad field of medicine that includes many separate sub-specialties, which allow the specialized treatment to be better tailored to the patient's problem.

Recommendations for a Maccabi ophthalmologist

Ask friends, relatives and colleagues to check whether they know an ophthalmologist they can recommend because he provided them with satisfactory care. As noted earlier, the recommended doctor about whom you receive recommendations may have a different specialty from the one required for your medical problem. A doctor who suits one person may not suit another and vice versa, since this is a subjective experience. There are also many reviews and opinions online that you can read about the ophthalmologist whose care you are considering. Here too, it is important to remember that each person's experience is unique, and you can still benefit from a range of opinions and determine whether the general opinion is positive and whether it is still worth continuing to approach him.

The price of an examination with a Maccabi ophthalmologist

Checking the price of the requested treatment is another criterion. Many surgeries in the State of Israel are subsidized by the government and various health funds, so they can decide whether to charge more for innovative surgeries and advanced technological means. For example, patients with Maccabi Zahav or Maccabi Sheli will be entitled to a subsidy for certain high-priced procedures.

It is also important to make sure that the hospitals and surgeons use the most up-to-date methods. The equipment and machines used to examine and treat the eye have improved significantly in recent years, and today technologies are available that allow better optical results, faster recovery and a lower risk of problems. Certified ophthalmologists constantly study and stay updated in order to provide the best possible care.

It is important to check the doctor's competence and expertise, because the more experience a doctor has with the problem or the medical procedure, the greater the chances that the result is expected to be better. It is certainly worth asking the treating doctor how many patients he has treated with problems similar to yours, or, if it is a special treatment, how many such treatments he has performed. In addition, it is important to know the success rates of the proposed treatment as well as the frequency of complications.

Availability

Another decisive factor to consider when choosing a treating physician is a high level of availability. This is because, usually, both before the surgery and after the treatment, there is a need to receive consultation, perform preliminary examinations and also follow-up visits. Moreover, the treating physician needs to be accessible for urgent emergencies and also attentive in cases of any side effects, so that he can advise on how to act and determine the level of urgency of the case. In addition, if questions or concerns arise about the treatment, the treating physician must be patient and attentive.

In summary, professionalism and courtesy are very important parameters for most patients when they want to choose a doctor who will provide them with some medical service. A friendly doctor with care, professionalism and a positive attitude will make a big difference in the patient's experience, especially when the patient is dealing with a challenging illness. As noted, the treating ophthalmologist must be focused, professional and patient, and so must the rest of the treating medical team.

Prof. Mimouni, an ophthalmologist specializing with a sub-specialty in cornea, is not in an arrangement with the Maccabi health fund and sees patients at his clinic privately.