Tapuwa L. Chikwinya, PLLC, Tacoma: NPI Registry Record and Eye Exam Cost Context
What the registry record says
- NPI number
- 1194336602
- Legal business name
- Tapuwa L. Chikwinya, PLLC
- Primary registered specialty
- Optometrist (152W00000X)
- Other registered specialties
- Optometrist, Low Vision Rehabilitation
- Practice location
- 6004 Westgate Blvd Ste 180
Tacoma, WA 98406-2503 - Phone on the record
- (253) 205-0873
- NPI issued
- August 10, 2020
- Record last updated by the practice
- November 27, 2023
- Registry status
- NPI registry record, active as reported by CMS October 2026
- Metro area
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- County
- Pierce County
- Location precision
- Street address matched by the US Census geocoder
Reading this record
Beyond the primary code the record carries Optometrist, Low Vision Rehabilitation, which is the registry's own signal that the practice covers more than routine work. The entry was last refreshed in November 2023. That is neither fresh nor ancient by the standards of this metro, where 92 of 508 records were updated in 2024 or later and 300 predate 2020.
For local context: Tacoma holds 32 registered eye care practices in this snapshot, 25 of them optometry and 7 ophthalmology, in ZIP codes including 98406. 30 of them took an NPI before this practice did. The closest is Tacoma Eye in Tacoma, 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 Washington boards hold the licensing record, and the practice itself is the only source for what it charges today.
Also registered at this address
1 other organization holds an NPI at the same street address. Shared suites and multi-specialty buildings are common, and it is worth knowing which entity you are actually booking with.
| Organization | Registered as | Record updated |
|---|---|---|
| Tacoma Eye | Optometry | September 2018 |
Nearest registered practices
248 other registered eye care practices sit within 25 miles of this address, a radius that does not stop at the metro boundary. Inside the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro itself there are 508, 31 of them elsewhere in Tacoma. The closest 5 are below, measured straight line between registered addresses.
| Practice | City | Registered as | Distance | Phone on record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tacoma Eye | Tacoma | Optometry | 0.0 mi | (253) 312-8890 |
| Proctor Vision Clinic, PLLC | Tacoma | Optometry | 1.4 mi | (253) 301-1225 |
| Family Vision Center of Tacoma | Tacoma | Optometry | 1.4 mi | (253) 759-5679 |
| Endeavor Eye Center, PLLC | Tacoma | Optometry | 1.4 mi | (253) 759-5679 |
| Family Eyecare Associates | Fircrest | Optometry | 1.7 mi | (253) 566-2020 |
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 optometry practice like this
The NPI registry holds no prices, so nothing here is a quote from Tapuwa L. Chikwinya, PLLC, and independent optometry practices do not publish fee schedules. Customers report paying $120 to $200 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 Tapuwa L. Chikwinya, PLLC for its self-pay price.
Ask two things when you call: whether the quoted fee includes the refraction, and what a contact lens fitting adds if you wear lenses (the median published contact-lens fee is $129). A comprehensive exam is $80 to $120 at the middle half of stores that print a price. If price is the deciding factor, the 508 practices on the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue page give you the full local field to call around.