Chao Vision Institute, Irvine: NPI Registry Record and Eye Exam Cost Context
What the registry record says
- NPI number
- 1578599197
- Legal business name
- Lawrence Chi Chao MD A Professional Corporation
- Registered trading name
- Chao Vision Institute
- Primary registered specialty
- Ophthalmology, Cornea and External Diseases Specialist (207WX0120X)
- Other registered specialties
- Optometrist; Ophthalmology
- Practice location
- 2500 Alton Pkwy Ste 102
Irvine, CA 92606-5032 - Phone on the record
- (949) 679-2426
- NPI issued
- June 24, 2006
- Record last updated by the practice
- March 23, 2022
- Registry status
- NPI registry record, active as reported by CMS August 2026
- Metro area
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- County
- Orange County
- Location precision
- Street address matched by the US Census geocoder
Reading this record
The practice bills under the legal name Lawrence Chi Chao MD A Professional Corporation and registered Chao Vision Institute as its trading name, so an insurance statement may show a name that does not match the sign on the door. Beyond the primary code the record carries Optometrist and Ophthalmology, which is the registry's own signal that the practice covers more than routine work. The entry was last refreshed in March 2022. That is neither fresh nor ancient by the standards of this metro, where 305 of 1,867 records were updated in 2024 or later and 1,085 predate 2020.
For local context: Irvine holds 52 registered eye care practices in this snapshot, 39 of them optometry and 13 ophthalmology, in ZIP codes including 92606. 1 of them took an NPI before this practice did. The closest is Dr. Michael Chang Optometry Corporation in Irvine, 0.2 miles away.
None of this is a licensing check. CMS issues an NPI so a provider can be identified in billing transactions, and states plainly that issuance does not ensure or validate that the holder is licensed or credentialed. The California boards hold the licensing record, and the practice itself is the only source for what it charges today.
Nearest registered practices
858 other registered eye care practices sit within 25 miles of this address, a radius that does not stop at the metro boundary. Inside the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro itself there are 1,867, 51 of them elsewhere in Irvine. The closest 5 are below, measured straight line between registered addresses.
| Practice | City | Registered as | Distance | Phone on record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Michael Chang Optometry Corporation | Irvine | Optometry | 0.2 mi | (562) 716-8986 |
| Spectrum Optometry | Irvine | Optometry | 0.2 mi | (949) 833-2020 |
| Oc Eye Associates, Inc. | Irvine | Ophthalmology | 0.5 mi | (949) 653-9500 |
| Mohsen S. Alinaghian OD Inc | Irvine | Optometry | 0.6 mi | (949) 250-4028 |
| Barbara Villa OD PC | Tustin | Optometry | 0.7 mi | (714) 259-1530 |
Distances are straight line between registered practice locations, not driving distance. Records placed at a ZIP centroid rather than a matched street address are excluded from this comparison.
What to expect to pay at an ophthalmology practice like this
The NPI registry holds no prices, so nothing here is a quote from Chao Vision Institute. Based on this site's own price research, an ophthalmology practice typically charges $150 to $300 or more for an exam without insurance, against a national average of about $136 and roughly $25 once a vision plan pays its share.
Ophthalmology visits are usually medical rather than routine, which changes who pays: medical insurance and Medicare Part B cover a medically necessary exam, while a routine refraction for glasses is normally not covered. Ask whether the visit will be billed as medical or routine before you book, and compare with the 1,244 optometry practices on the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim page if you only need a prescription.