Rethinking the Role of Optical
Today’s ophthalmic administrators face no shortage of priorities. Staffing shortages, reimbursement pressures, physician recruitment, patient access initiatives, technology investments, and operational efficiency efforts all compete for attention and resources.
Amid these competing demands, optical is one area that can be easily overlooked—not because it lacks importance, but because it is frequently viewed as a separate business operating within the practice.
It can be easy to forget that optical represents the final step in delivering what every patient ultimately seeks: better vision. Whether a patient undergoes cataract surgery, receives treatment for ocular surface disease, seeks refractive surgery, or presents for a routine eye examination, the patient’s perception of success is heavily influenced by what happens after they leave the exam lane. The quality of their eyewear, the expertise of the optician, the speed of delivery, and the overall purchasing experience all contribute to their perception of care.
For administrators focused on helping patients achieve best-corrected vision and improve their satisfaction while supporting organizational growth, optical deserves far more strategic consideration than it often receives.
Optical is more than a revenue center
Historically, many practices have evaluated optical primarily through a financial lens. Capture rates, average sales, profitability, and inventory turns are certainly important metrics, but they tell only part of the story.
Optical sits at the intersection of clinical care and patient experience. When managed effectively, optical can:
- Reinforce the value of clinical recommendations
- Improve continuity of care
- Increase patient convenience
- Strengthen patient loyalty and retention
- Improve visual outcomes
- Enhance patient satisfaction
- Contribute meaningful operating income to the practice.
The most successful organizations recognize that optical is not simply a dispensary. It is an extension of patient care and a critical component of the overall patient experience.
Best-corrected vision doesn’t end in the exam lane
As eyecare professionals, we spend significant time discussing clinical outcomes. However, achieving best-corrected vision requires more than a successful examination or surgical procedure.
A patient may receive an excellent refraction but still experience frustration if eyewear is delayed, improperly fitted, or fails to meet expectations.
A cataract patient may achieve an excellent surgical outcome but still require quality eyewear to maximize visual performance.
A patient with ocular surface disease may struggle with fluctuating vision despite receiving an accurate prescription.
Achieving best-corrected vision requires alignment between clinical care and optical execution. That includes:
- Accurate prescriptions
- Appropriate lens technologies
- Proper frame selection
- Expert dispensing
- Quality fabrication
- Ongoing patient education.
When those elements work together, patients experience the full value of the care delivered by the practice.
The most successful organizations recognize that optical is not simply a dispensary. It is an extension of patient care and a critical component of the overall patient experience.
Patients experience one practice
One of the most important lessons we have learned as administrators is that patients do not distinguish between departments. Patients do not separate clinical care from optical care. They evaluate the entire experience as one continuous journey and judge our organizations not by individual touchpoints but by the overall outcome we help them achieve.
At Atwal Eye Care, when we recognized that optical was not the end of the patient journey but an extension of it, our entire perspective changed. That realization transformed how we viewed optical. Instead of evaluating success solely through sales reports and operational metrics, we placed greater emphasis on how optical influenced patient satisfaction, visual outcomes, and long-term loyalty.
When optical is viewed as part of the patient care continuum, decisions become more patient-centric and strategic.
Five questions when evaluating optical
Whether optical is managed internally, co-sourced, or supported through an external partnership, administrators should periodically evaluate its impact on the broader organization.
Consider asking the following questions:
- Are we consistently delivering best-corrected vision? Do patients have access to the products, technology, expertise, and support needed to maximize their visual outcomes?
- How do patients perceive their optical experience? Patient satisfaction often reflects the combined experience of clinical care and optical delivery.
- How much leadership time is being devoted to optical? Could those resources be deployed more effectively elsewhere in the organization?
- Are we measuring the right metrics? Capture rates and profitability matter, but so do turnaround times, patient satisfaction, remakes, retention, and visual outcomes.
- If we were building our optical operation from scratch today, would we structure it the same way? This question often provides valuable perspective regarding future opportunities and organizational priorities.
The leadership reality
Many administrators understand the importance of optical but struggle with the resources required to operate it effectively.
Unlike most clinical departments, optical combines healthcare delivery with retail management. Success requires expertise in staffing, inventory management, merchandising, vendor relationships, technology, customer service, workflow design, and performance analytics.
These responsibilities require significant leadership attention.
Within our own organizations, we spent years evaluating ways to strengthen optical performance. Yet, as our practices continued to grow, competing priorities demanded increasing amounts of executive focus.
Staffing challenges, physician recruitment, organizational growth, patient access initiatives, technological advancements, and community outreach all required substantial leadership attention.
While optical remained important, we recognized that the department was not always receiving the level of strategic focus necessary to fully realize its potential—both from a patient experience perspective and as a contributor to overall practice performance.
At Atwal Eye Care, leadership continually evaluated ways to strengthen optical performance. As the practice expanded, the demands placed on leadership continued to grow. Staffing challenges, advancements in refractive surgery, organizational growth, and ensuring the Buffalo community understood the benefits of seeking best-corrected vision at Atwal Eye Care all required substantial executive attention.
The challenge was not whether optical was important. The challenge was whether it was receiving the dedicated focus required to fully realize its potential while leadership simultaneously addressed the many competing priorities facing the organization.
This realization prompted a broader discussion about how leadership resources were being allocated and whether existing operational models would allow optical to continue evolving while supporting the broader goals of the practice.
Patients do not separate clinical care from optical care. They evaluate the entire experience as one continuous journey.
Leadership capacity matters
While Debbie’s experience at Atwal Eye Care centered on strengthening optical as part of the patient journey, Sondra’s experience at Florida Eye Clinic raised a different strategic question: how much leadership capacity should an organization devote to operating optical internally?
One organization operated its own laboratory for more than 20 years. Another continually evaluated ways to strengthen optical performance while balancing the increasing demands of a growing ophthalmic practice.
In both cases, the question became larger than optical alone. We found ourselves asking whether leadership time and organizational resources were being deployed in ways that best supported our patients, providers, and long-term strategic objectives.
Ultimately, Florida Eye Clinic decided to outsource optical. The greatest benefit when doing so was not the gains in optical revenue—it was the time, focus, and capacity that leaders gained to advance the entire organization. The ability to redirect executive attention toward strategic initiatives, physician recruitment, patient access, technology investments, clinical operations, and organizational growth ultimately created value far beyond optical alone.
Plus, as CEO, outsourcing optical allowed Sondra to shift her attention from managing a retail operation to leading a healthcare organization—an investment that paid dividends across every aspect of the practice.
For many administrators, this perspective may be one of the most important considerations of all.
Conclusion
The most successful eyecare organizations recognize that optical is not simply a revenue center, a dispensary, or a retail business. It is a critical component of achieving best-corrected vision that influences patient satisfaction, continuity of care, operational efficiency, provider confidence, organizational growth, and overall practice performance.
Our organizations arrived at this discussion from different starting points. One focused on strengthening the patient journey and ensuring that every aspect of the patient experience supported the promise of better vision. The other focused on leadership effectiveness and ensuring executive attention remained focused on advancing the broader organization.
Yet despite those different paths, we arrived at the same conclusion: Optical should not be an afterthought. When approached strategically, it becomes a powerful contributor to better patient outcomes, stronger organizational performance, enhanced patient satisfaction, and long-term practice success.
The question for today’s administrators is not whether optical matters. It is whether optical is receiving the strategic attention, leadership focus, and organizational commitment necessary to support the outcomes our patients expect and our practices deserve.
Debbie Davis, COE, FASOA, is CEO at Atwal Eye Care & Buffalo Ambulatory Surgery Center. She is also a former ASOA president and NBCOE immediate-past president.
Sondra Hoffman, COE, FASOA, is COO at Treasure Coast Eye Specialists. Sondra previously served as CEO of Florida Eye Clinic. She is also a former ASOA president and NBCOE president.