These two terms refer to the way an examination is billed out by the office. Both examinations are performed the same way by the doctor. The diagnosis, which is billed out by the office, depends on the chief complaint of the patient, as related to the doctor or technician.

Scenario #1 The patient comes to the office with a history of diabetes. He/she is healthy and has no eye problems, but wants his/her eyes examined. This is considered a medical examination because the patient has a disease which can affect the eyes and the physician needs to evaluate the patient's eyes in light of this disease.

Scenario #2 The patient comes to the office with a complaint of difficulty seeing the newspaper, but no problem with distance vision. This would be considered routine in nature because there are no medically related problems.

Scenario #3 The patient comes to the office with pain in the eye and tearing. These complaints are considered medical symptoms and the eye examination would be billed as a medical exam.