Maximizing Revenue Per Visit by Broadening Scope and Building Trust
Dr. Nestor Biletsky’s office. Photo Credit: Olympus Vision.
By Nestor Biletsky, OD
July 16, 2026
I’ve always been intrigued by the medical care side of optometry. The first optometrist I shadowed opened the door to the opportunity beyond contact lenses and glasses, and I couldn’t look back. My optometry school rotation at an ophthalmology and optometry group practice led to my first job as a new graduate—a great learning experience.
Looking for something new, I joined a solo optometrist’s practice as an associate in 2022. About a year later, that practice partnered with AEG Vision. Today, I am the sole doctor in the office. It’s the kind of setting that has put me in position to reach my goal: providing medical care to the fullest extent of my scope. The business has grown each of the past three years, with current revenue up 33% year-to-date.
Our optical sales are up over last year, and we’re seeing 34% more exams year-to-date as well. Thanks to the support of AEG Vision, our efforts have had a snowball effect toward success.
PROVIDE HONEST EDUCATION AND PURPOSEFUL RECOMMENDATIONS
Our conversations are always specific and personal. I spend time in the exam room learning about each patient’s visual needs and demands. What’s the purpose of the eyewear they’re seeking? If they need a better option for driving, I know which options to steer them toward.
I reiterate our conversation in my handoff to the optical, reinforcing the recommendations and the reason behind them. The tailored approach works. Patients have told me that they had planned not to buy because they don’t like being upsold, but often change their minds because I present a personalized solution that I’m confident will help them see to the best of their abilities.
We’re directly solving their issues, and it’s honest and never fake.
COMMUNICATE AND EDUCATE
Staff can be more confident with proper training.
Our practice is in a lower-income area, and it’s a heavy disease site. But often patients come in with the assumption that the eye doctor only offers contact lenses and glasses. They think anything beyond that related to the eye needs to be handled at the hospital.
We invest our time in making sure patients know our capabilities. We wear scrubs to emphasize the medical care in our facility. Patients don’t have to wait three months to see a specialist. We can help them.
Thanks to training with AEG Vision and our consistent internal communication, my staff is confident in what to look for when scheduling emergency visits. They don’t need to run down the hall to ask me and interrupt the workflow. It’s great to have everyone on the same page, streamlining the process. The tasks don’t sit on my shoulders anymore, and I know I can delegate to save time.
DIFFERENTIATE YOUR SERVICES
One of the first things I wanted to add to the practice was amniotic membranes for dry eye treatment, as well as nerve degeneration and other diseases on the cornea. I saw a lot of potential, but I wasn’t sure about taking the leap or whether insurance would cover it. My AEG Vision regional manager and I talked through the decision. AEG Vision continues to help on the back end, ensuring we have the support we need. The team has been a great resource for billing issues.
Adding amniotic membranes proved to be a smart choice. Our patient base needs to be served, and not all hospitals or ophthalmologists offer this service or have time to help.
BE PROACTIVE
Look for opportunities for medical revenue. I recommend baseline scans anytime I see something worth monitoring. The scans provide images to compare in future visits, and we can determine if someone needs to be seen every three months or less frequently. We can check patients’ insurance to be upfront about the costs. Often Medicaid covers 50% of the imaging cost.
Patients appreciate that we are proactive. Even with dryness, it’s always better than being reactive and dealing with more difficult symptoms.
WHAT’S OUR NEXT OPPORTUNITY TO STAND OUT?
AEG Vision has helped me down the path to practice exactly how I envisioned it. I have full autonomy over patient care. This relationship allows me to focus on the future and keep up with rapid changes and advancements in technology. I can lean on my manager Jasmine, who is very reliable and takes a genuine interest in what we do.
An anterior segment OCT is next on my list for fitting specialty contact lenses. With each new opportunity or instrumentation purchase, I aim to expand my medical services and better serve my community and patient population. AEG Vision helps me achieve that goal.
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Nestor Biletsky, OD, practices in the Philadelphia area. He is a 2019 graduate from Salus University. He enjoys spending time outdoors or traveling in his spare time. |
Using Smarter Scheduling and Expanded Services to Drive Growth
By Ronald Campana, OD
A few years after I finished optometry school, my first daughter was born. That’s when I moved back home to western Pennsylvania and started getting serious about buying into a practice. I made a connection with a family business—a husband and wife and her two brothers—where one partner was interested in selling their interest in the practice.
As we completed the buyout for the practice and its two locations, my three partners and I contemplated our next step. The practice’s longtime financial manager was stepping away, and I had just made a significant investment into the business. We saw partnering with AEG Vision as a smart move for our practice’s next chapter.
A SMOOTH PARTNERSHIP THROUGH THE TRANSITION
There were a lot of factors in making this decision. AEG Vision aligned with how we operated before, and five years later, we are still encouraged to practice to our full scope. Our day-to-day routine was never disrupted.
I was grateful that the administrative load was exceptionally reduced. Patient care drew me to optometry, and I like to be able to focus on being a doctor.
WORKING A SMARTER SCHEDULE
With more time to focus on patients, we’re always looking for opportunities within our existing patient base. One way we’ve maximized our reach and revenue with patients is by paying close attention to our recall and follow-up schedule. Patients who are in for a pathology visit leave with the next appointment scheduled and a clear understanding of how often the condition should be monitored. Routine care is also pre-appointed and confirmed prior to the visit. When we pre-appoint we can be conscious to not schedule concentrated back to back complex visits.
We also make sure each visit is as purposeful as possible. If we can achieve multiple goals in one visit on one day, it’s more efficient for the practice and patients. We try to avoid schedule redundancies as much as possible.
Everyone has been frustrated when a schedule falls apart at the last minute. AEG Vision has also helped us in keeping the schedule full. When we added an online scheduling option, we have routinely seen that last minute cancellations are filled via the online portal. We also keep a wait list of patients looking for an earlier appointment and actively reach out to them when spots can be filled.
I also go through the schedule for the week ahead to see if there are any upcoming issues to address. I look for bottle necks in testing and also to make sure the correct testing is slated for that day etc. This keeps our office workflow smoother and more efficient than jumping in to deal with a schedule problem at the last minute.
SHARPEN YOUR SKILLSET
We aim to offer a wide range of services for our patient base. AEG Vision encourages our doctors and staff to use the many training resources available for any avenue of specialty we want to explore. We’ve benefited from wet lab as well as live and archived CE events. The flexibility of the resources is great to fit our schedule and what we’re looking for, and this education helps us meet our goal to be proficient in many areas.
We stay current with treatment protocols in myopia management, and we’re also offering new technologies for dry eye, such as amniotic membranes, which offer a great boost to our revenue stream.
MAXIMIZING EVERY PATIENT ENCOUNTER
For me, increasing per-patient revenue without adding more exam slots comes down to being purposeful with every encounter. EHR software can be incredibly powerful. Our day sheet contains a wealth of information in one spot. We have appointment time, age, materials eligibility, previous eyewear solutions, prior diagnosis and procedure codes, etc. all in one spot.
This places the full story of the day in front of me on a few pages of spreadsheet. I look for places where I may be able spend some extra time going over a patient’s medical diagnosis and testing or with a patient that hasn’t utilized insurance eligibility for years to make sure they know the benefit exists. I can use this overview to make sure I am on time and on task. You can create a better experience for people by preparing for them ahead of time. If you create a better experience, revenue will follow. It’s making the most of each interaction while I’m in the office and handing off some administrative responsibilities, so I can focus on my life outside of the office when I walk out at the end of the day.
AEG Vision has met my expectations in that way. The consistent support allows me to focus on the patient side and on making sure we are moving forward together.
This article is sponsored by AEG Vision
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Ronald Campana, OD, practices in the Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys spending time with his family and cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers. |
