Steven D. Zelko, MD Inc., Santa Barbara: NPI Registry Record and Eye Exam Cost Context
What the registry record says
- NPI number
- 1790186518
- Legal business name
- Steven D. Zelko, MD Inc.
- Primary registered specialty
- Ophthalmology (207W00000X)
- Other registered specialties
- Optometrist
- Practice location
- 1933 Cliff Dr Ste 29
Santa Barbara, CA 93109-1589 - Phone on the record
- (805) 682-2618
- NPI issued
- September 11, 2014
- Record last updated by the practice
- June 26, 2023
- Registry status
- NPI registry record, active as reported by CMS October 2026
- Metro area
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
- County
- Santa Barbara County
- Location precision
- Street address matched by the US Census geocoder
Reading this record
Beyond the primary code the record carries Optometrist, which is the registry's own signal that the practice covers more than routine work. The entry was last refreshed in June 2023. That is neither fresh nor ancient by the standards of this metro, where 11 of 49 records were updated in 2024 or later and 25 predate 2020.
For local context: Santa Barbara holds 17 registered eye care practices in this snapshot, 8 of them optometry and 9 ophthalmology, in ZIP codes including 93109. 10 of them took an NPI before this practice did. The closest is Michael Jay Paveloff M D Inc in Santa Barbara, 0.0 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
23 other registered eye care practices sit within 25 miles of this address, a radius that does not stop at the metro boundary. Inside the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro itself there are 49, 16 of them elsewhere in Santa Barbara. The closest 5 are below, measured straight line between registered addresses.
| Practice | City | Registered as | Distance | Phone on record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jay Paveloff M D Inc | Santa Barbara | Ophthalmology | 0.0 mi | (805) 682-4459 |
| Urban Optics Optometric Center | Santa Barbara | Optometry | 1.8 mi | (805) 899-1240 |
| Optometry Care Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Optometry | 1.9 mi | (805) 569-2318 |
| Natalia Santizo Aimonetti, A Professional Optometry Corporation | Santa Barbara | Optometry | 1.9 mi | (805) 569-2318 |
| Joanne Gronquist, O.D. | Santa Barbara | Optometry | 2.0 mi | (805) 569-1504 |
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 Steven D. Zelko, MD Inc., and ophthalmology practices do not publish fee schedules. Customers report paying $150 to $300 or more at this kind of practice without insurance, which is a reported band rather than a published price. The nearest published figure is $95, the median starting fee across the 1,280 US retail optical stores that print one (30 September 2026), and Medicare pays $149.64 for a comprehensive new-patient exam (CPT 92004). Ask Steven D. Zelko, MD Inc. for its self-pay price.
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 29 optometry practices on the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara page if you only need a prescription.