Wexford Health ensures every patient's eye care needs are identified early and treated properly — from routine reading glasses to serious eye conditions. Every patient receives a vision screening at intake, with follow-up care available at any time through Sick Call.

• Vision screening at intake, plus referrals to an optometrist or ophthalmologist when needed
• Corrective lenses are evaluated case-by-case based on their impact on daily life
• One pair of safety eyeglasses is provided at no cost when medically necessary
• Patients may keep personal eyeglasses (with approval) or contacts until new glasses arrive

Wexford Health builds hearing screening into routine care so issues are caught early — not just when a patient raises a concern.

• Hearing screenings are included in intake and periodic exams and are available on request
• Pure-tone testing and ear exams identify patients who need further evaluation
• Referral to a licensed audiologist for a full diagnostic workup and hearing aid recommendations when indicated
• All results documented in the patient's health record

Wexford Health will provide patients with vision care services including routine eye examinations; emergency eye care services; specialty eye care services; and the prescribing, ordering, dispensing, and fitting of eyeglasses.  Our comprehensive eye care program ensures that all patients with ocular illness or needs are promptly identified and treated.   Such ocular needs range from patients who simply need reading glasses to those patients with the most serious eye diseases.  

Wexford Health’s standard vision (optometry/ophthalmology) program calls for each patient to receive an eye screening and visual acuity assessment as part of his/her initial health assessment. We refer those patients identified as requiring vision care to a qualified optometrist for evaluation. We will also refer to a qualified optometrist or ophthalmologist those patients who enter the [CLIENT] system with a previous diagnosis of glaucoma or other eye disease.

At any time, patients may seek corrective lenses for near or distance vision when necessary.  Wexford Health provides each patient with a visual screening upon intake (and when subsequently indicated).  Patients also have access to evaluation for corrective lenses—distance and reading—through the Sick Call process.  Our providers determine the need for corrective lenses on a case-by-case basis, based on the level to which the patient’s vision impairment affects his/her ability to function.

Wexford Health will provide and pay for one pair of safety eyeglasses per patient, when an optometrist/ophthalmologist determines that corrective lenses are medically necessary.  Our standard program calls for the patient to be financially responsible for the cost of replacing or repairing eyeglasses damaged or destroyed due to negligence or deliberate destruction.

We permit patients wearing prescription eyeglasses at intake to keep their current glasses if approved by the client agency.  For a patient wearing contact lenses at intake, we typically permit him/her to retain the current contact lenses only until he or she receives Wexford Health-issued prescription eyeglasses.

Wexford Health will provide hearing screenings to identify individuals with or at risk for auditory and/or vestibular impairments.  These screenings are a routine and regular part of (a) Wexford Health’s intake physical examinations for all incarcerated individuals; as well as (b) our periodic physical examinations for individuals who self-report with (or are determined to have) hearing loss.  Additionally, individuals may request hearing screenings through the Sick Call process.

During the hearing screening, our medical staff will use standard, recognized medical procedures to identify whether the individual may have a hearing issue.  At this time, we will not measure the degree or level of the individual’s hearing loss, but simply determine the need for further diagnostic encounters.

Wexford Health typically conducts hearing screenings through the use of air conduction or “pure tone” testing with an AudioScope or audiometer, in which the patient puts on earphones and raises a hand whenever s/he hears the "beeps."  This test helps us to identify the quietest sound a patient can hear at different pitches or frequencies.  Our clinicians also perform otoscopic screening exams for inspection of a patient’s external ear canal, surrounding tissue, ear canal, and tympanic membrane.

For any individual whose hearing screening indicates that s/he may be deaf or hard of hearing, Wexford Health will refer him/her to a licensed audiologist for an audiological evaluation.  This evaluation will include audiological tests that measure the type, degree, configuration, and level of the patient’s hearing loss and result in an audiogram.  After the evaluation, Wexford Health will require the audiologist to provide a written report that describes his/her findings with regard to (a) the level and nature of the patient’s hearing loss in each ear; and (b) whether the patient would benefit from a hearing aid in the left ear, right ear, both ears, or neither ear.

• Visual examination of the ears: Since deafness sometimes results from occlusion of the sound conduction pathways, Wexford Health and the audiologist will perform a visual examination of the patient’s ears for conditions such as blockage of the external canal or rupture/scarring of the tympanic membrane.
• Weber and Rinne tests: Conducted with a tuning fork, these tests focus on determining whether the patient’s hearing loss is sensorineural or conductive.
• Evaluation of tinnitus: Tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) is usually due to damaged cochlear hair cells that produce spontaneous nerve activity.  While tinnitus is often caused by excessive sound exposure, it can also result from virtually any cause of inner ear or associated nerve damage, excessive pressure in the inner ear, turbulence in the carotid blood flow, or medications (notably high doses of aspirin).

We will document the results of all hearing screenings and evaluations in the patient’s health record.  This includes a description of the type, degree, and configuration of the patient’s hearing loss or hearing level.