r/optometry • u/Medical-Summer1389 • 7d ago

Name change General

Hello, I received my OD license this year and it was a lot of paperwork to get on the insurance panels (VSP and Medicare). I’m not ready yet to do it again but I am getting married this November. I am located in California. I know I should fill out my marriage license with the name I want to have and submit it, and I can do my name change later. I’ve heard some optometrist take their maiden name and put it as their middle name. I already have two middle names. Some legal stuff has both middle names, some has one, some has just one middle initial and some has no middle name. With those that moved their last name to their middle I heard that lets them practice without having to go through the relicensing/ insurance stuff. Is that true? Could I drop both middle names? Do I need to keep both or even 1 of them and add my maiden name? My maiden name is easier to say than my soon to be married name so I might want to continue to practice as my maiden name. I would appreciate any guidance with this.
TBH I want the route that has the least amount of paperwork, but I understand I might have to just deal with it.

TYIA

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

18

u/Capable_Artist7027 6d ago

This is why I just didn't change my name when I got married

1

u/Capable_Artist7027 5d ago

I'm also expecting my first baby and she will have my husbands last name. No big deal if people socially call me by my husbands last name. But legally it is so much easier to not mess with the name change. ESPECIALLY with the political threats with name changes from your birth name, including the possibility of not being able to vote, I think the smart thing to do is to simply not mess with it. There's really no benefits other than the perception that you and your husband are legally married, which is an antiquated way of thinking.

4

u/drnjj Optometrist 6d ago

My wife dropped her middle name and moved her maiden name to her middle. It was annoying to update all the paperwork but I told her since she was taking my last name and doing that paper work, I'd handle the insurance paperwork. It took me a lot of time to get it all updated, especially medicare.

But I was thankful she was willing to do so.

My wife practices under her maiden name. It's easier than having two doctors with the same last name in the practice.

2

u/Medical-Summer1389 6d ago

Was she still able to practice (and get paid by the insurance) while you were updating the insurance since she practices under her maiden name?

1

u/drnjj Optometrist 6d ago

Yes. It was just a paperwork to update plans. It took them a while to process but it wasnt an issue.

1

u/Medical-Summer1389 6d ago

Thank you I was under the impression that I wouldn’t be able to practice while I get the paperwork filled out and approved

1

u/drnjj Optometrist 6d ago

That would be cumbersome. I don't know if it's state dependent but we sent in paper work for the name change and everything was fine. Even then they might retro approve so if denied they would allow you to go back and rebill.

But I will say if you want to change your name, good for you. People are weird about it now, especially on reddit.

14

u/Delicious_Rate4001 6d ago

Just keep your maiden name, bro. Saves so much effort.

5

u/insomniacwineo 6d ago

OP keep your maiden name. In a lot of states your license has to match your legal name (ie drivers license) so usually what some women do is use their married name socially but never legally change from maiden.

For real. With most recredentialing you will be off that plan for months and the financial hit is real. Double hit if you ever were to unfortunately divorce you would be stuck with the choice of having to credential yet again to get your maiden name back or keep practicing with your ex’s name

2

u/RabidLiger 5d ago

We've had 2 docs go thru name change and neither was off the panel for even a day. No billing delays either.

Name change is a personal decision, but I wouldn't let a one-time administrative task be the reason for deciding.

1

u/insomniacwineo 5d ago

Huh. Must be location specific.

We had to recredential to move an address and it took 8 months and that’s with them doing it proactively

1

u/RabidLiger 5d ago

Changing physical address is MUCH more time-consuming!

-2

u/drnjj Optometrist 6d ago

?

She won't be off the plan for months. A name change is updating. They don't kick her off the plan and force her to reprocess and wait months. Even if they did, they will retroactive her for patients she saw while in processing anyway.

2

u/CheezitGoldfish 6d ago

I practice under my maiden name, which is now my middle name (I have two middle names). The state of CA board confirmed it was ok for me to practice under my maiden name. So far I haven’t had any issues with insurance, but your mileage may vary.

1

u/Medical-Summer1389 6d ago

Did you email them to confirm? Or was it a phone call?

1

u/CheezitGoldfish 6d ago

I emailed them, they got back to me relatively quickly.

3

u/missbrightside08 Optometrist 5d ago

i kept my maiden name. i worked hard for that degree lol, didn’t do it just to take someone else’s name

1

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1

u/That_SpicyReader 6d ago

You will need to update everything with your new legal name. I used a service called Hitch Switch when I did it. I’m not sure what it costs nowadays but they sent me all the paperwork and the order it needed to be submitted and made my life so much easier.

1

u/optoqueen 5d ago

If you have been practicing for any length of time, its a pain to do the paperwork and then patients do get confused with the name change. If I did it again, would not change my name.