Dr. Richard A Fichman, MD

Good

It was my first time meeting with Dr. Fichman and he staff. He was very professional and spent time with me explaining my situation. I very much appreciated his compassion. Every staff member I met that day, from checking in to the various tests I needed, were all very nice, friendly and professional.

Dr. Fichman ability to make you feel relax and explain to you the procedure in a professional manner is very helpful. Any type of surgery is always concerning for us the patient. So that manner in which he carries him gives you confidence! Good job.

Very nice and professional

Recently visited the Manchester office for an exam and to purchase eyeglasses with my new prescription. The exam seemed to go alright and the purchase of the eyeglasses was pretty seamless. The problem arose when I returned some two weeks later to pick up my new glasses. I was unable to see at a distance. When I told the Tech. that she told me that it must be my reaction to the digital progressive lenses and they take some getting used to. I explained that I have lived with progressive lenses for years and the prescription seemed wrong. She then took the lenses and tested them and then compared her findings to the prescription. They matched. It became obvious that the prescription was wrong. After a few uncomfortable minutes I asked for a retest. I was ushered to the appointment desk and was told that I would have to wait over a week for the retest. Only after I expressed my displeasure with the date and explained that the exam was "screwed up", to put it mildly I was given a retest… date of the next day. On the day of the retest I was shown into the exam room after a shorty wait. The Tech asked how I was and I explained I was not happy to be there for the second exam in two weeks. She took a small amount of info from me and left the room. Moments later a woman who identified herself as the practice manager entered and asked why I was unhappy I then explained to her that I hadn't experienced this level of incompetence in a professional setting ever. Getting the prescription correct was one thing but what about the portion of the exam that checks for eye disease. Was that performed properly or was it done with the same level of accuracy as the refraction. Dr. Delisle entered the room and began the exam and after many (30 minutes) worth of trial and error attempts came up with an acceptable prescription. Vastly different from the first numbers I was given on the first visit. All in all a factory like experience with a cold interaction with the Doctor. I'm rating my experience with one star until I finally receive the new glasses.

I selected three stars 1) because the Fichman Eye Center front desk woman was extraordinarily nice to me when I told her I'd like to be reimbursed by the Fichman Eye Center for my necessary visit to a different ophthalmologist for a second opinion (my insurance only covers one eye doctor visit per year, so I had to pay out of pocket). Before asking for the reimbursement, it was of course necessary for me to confirm that, beyond having not been examined by an actual eye doctor at the Fichman Eye Center, my expressed concern (that I had an astigmatism) had been ignored. (Every part of the exam was done by the technician; all the doctor did, when I finally saw him after the technician's exam, was sit very importantly at his desk while writing the prescription based on the technician's notes.) I asked for a copy of my sign-in sheet, and yes, there it was, the note I'd written on the line asking the reason for my visit: "Blurred vision in right eye / astigmatism / need glasses." I… also asked for a copy of the prescription the technician (when it really comes down to it) wrote. The prescription that, once turned into lenses, resulted in my still having blurred vision in my right eye (which led to the second opinion). I was told I'd have to get that from a man in the Optical department. I sat at his desk and he tapped around on his keyboard, then printed and handed me the prescription. "Can you explain to me what all this means?" I said. He put his finger on each number and said one indicated a correction for one eye and another for the other. "And where's the correction for an astigmatism?" I said. "There isn't one," he said (impatiently, I thought). "Oh," I said. "Because I came in for an astigmatism. And the doctor I just saw for a second opinion gave me a prescription to correct an astigmatism." "You can go to five different eye doctors - and I'm saying this as someone who gives eye exams - and get five different prescriptions. They're all right. None of them are wrong." [The Fichman Eye Center might have received four stars for their response to my dissatisfaction if not for the dubious claim that all prescriptions are correct. This brought them down to two.] "Really!" I said. "It's a wonder anyone gets glasses that actually work." "Every doctor will find something different," he said. "But I didn't even see the doctor," I said. "And when I told the technician I saw double at a distance - after she told me I only really needed a prescription for reading - she seemed surprised. I wrote 'astigmatism' on my form." He then said what basically amounted to "Look, bothersome person, I'm just the glasses center guy." Anyway, after being dismissed by Glasses Center Guy, I returned to the front desk with my prescription and my "astigmatism" notes and asked again for a reimbursement. The office manager was consulted, and I was told I'd get a call from someone in billing about how the reimbursement would happen. When she called less than an hour later while I was looking at sweaters in Marshall's (no luck, there), she told me, "We don't reimburse for second opinions with different doctors. You could have returned to the Fichman Eye Center for a second opinion and it would have cost nothing. But it was your choice to see another doctor." I didn't ask why on earth I would go back to see the same doctor who didn't deign to examine me the first time. Instead I said something like, "But I didn't see any doctor at all the first time." "It shows here that he did see you and signed off on the prescription." "Yes, he did technically see me. I sat in his office and he stayed at his desk. He never looked at my eyes." Unlike the second doctor - located on Center Street in Manchester - who did her own exam after the technician's exam and easily found not only the astigmatism I told her I had (yay for listening!), but also that I had mild dry-eye in one eye, along with some other thing I can't pronounce that she found "very interesting" (and not in a "you're going to die" way). "Well, that's something I'll bring to him," she said, referring to the un-exam by the Fichman doctor, "but as to the reimbursement..." (No reimbursement, she said, but she would void my appointment, essentially, with my insurance company so that I could then go to the doctor who *did* examine me and have them resubmit my bill to insurance, and I could then ask for a reimbursement from them. I'm overjoyed by the extra work I'm required to do as a consequence of an incomplete exam! Extra star!) I also give them three stars for 2) allowing me, after my initial visit, to cancel the glasses order I placed and refund what I paid for them after I decided in the middle of the night the same day I ordered them that they were all wrong. I appreciate that very much. I do recommend Fichman Eye Center if you want a refund.

I recently had cataract surgery at the Fichman Eye Center. The staff were very professional, caring, friendly, and explained everything. Dr. Fichman was gentle, thorough, and skilled. He was very respectful of some additional health issues I had.

A personal friend recommended Dr. Fichman and I'm so glad she did. All phone calls and visits were handled so well and professionally that I was completely at ease. One eye is done, the second is scheduled, I can't believe the improvement even one eye can make, can't wait for the second! I recommend Dr. Fichman to any one for eye care

Exceptional service from the time I walked in the office to the time I left. Dr. Fichman made me feel so comfortable, and I am a person who does not do well with anyone touching my eyes, but his gentle approach and down to earth personality made it a wonderful experience. I would recommend anyone at all that is in need of anything vision related to visit the Fichman Eye Center. For a doctor who has pretty much invented much of what is used in today's medical world of opthamology, he is a very nice, warm, inviting, sociable, and down to earth person. Cant say enough good things, highly recommended!!

I had an eye exam with Fichman Eye Center and I am so glad I chose them! The office was very clean, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The doctor I saw was had great bedside manor. The glasses selection was above perfection, I wish I went to them sooner! I would recommend Fichman Eye Center to anyone!! Thank you!