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The pros and cons of accepting walk-in patients in an optometry practice
By Vittorio Mena, OD, MS
August 28, 2026
What do you do when a customer is browsing the optical and wants new eyewear, but they need a new prescription? Do you consider fitting them into the schedule to capture the sale and provide a positive experience?
When an “emergency” case comes in during a busy day, do you make the time to see that patient?
The decision to accept walk-in patients or not really comes down to the mindset and personality of the owner and practice manager. Could a completely rigid schedule keep the door closed to opportunities to make a lasting impression?
Let’s take a look at both sides of the argument.
THE IMPACT OF A DISRUPTED SCHEDULE
For those with a Type A personality, they may typically not like any disruption to the patient schedule by adding in another person without a made appointment. This makes sense for a few reasons.
First is the inconvenience factor. A walk-in patient can take away time from someone who made an appointment. Now that scheduled patient may have to wait for the doctor longer, which can cause some strife between the patient and the front desk.
Walk-ins can also cause a bottleneck in the schedule for later in the day if every patient on the schedule does show up. That could potentially cause stress to the staff and practicing doctor since they may have to leave later than normal closing hours.
If the disruption to the schedule is significant, it may cause a patient to potentially walk out from the office if they have to wait too long. The impact could be lost revenue, future referral patients or negative reviews.
WALK-IN PATIENTS CAN BOOST ACCESS AND REVENUE
On the flip side, there are many doctors who decide to take walk-ins and find a rhythm to make it work.
When patients come in and are able to be seen as walk-in, that immediate access to care can leave an impression. This ultimately may lead the patient to choose your office in the future over a provider who does not. The experience can gain their referrals to their family and friends if they are happy with your services. This drive in additional patients and services will increase your revenue.
Walk-in patients represent an opportunity to fill openings in the schedule for patients who cancelled or did not show up for their appointment. Research analyzing the impact of no-show patients finds that “patient no show rates in the United States on average is 18%, missed appointments is 27% and it is costing the economy $150 billion annually.”1 Close your schedule gaps to eliminate or reduce this loss.
WHICH WALK-IN SITUATIONS WARRANT IMMEDIATE CARE?
Some practices may evaluate each walk-in case scenario and determine if they will accept it based on if it is an emergency or not.
Common reasons ODs may evaluate for emergency walk-in visits include eye infections, red eye, eye pain, flashes of light and severe headaches. We’re often considering if the situation can potentially be something that can be detrimental to the patients’ health.
I know of other practices that have implemented a 30-minute slot at a certain time in their schedule to accommodate any type of walk-in or emergency case. Some practices even have special evening hours for cases like this or on-call services.
HOW WALK-INS WORK IN OUR PRACTICE
In our practice, we allow any kind of walk-in. We accept almost every single insurance. Since we have a heavy Medicaid population, oftentimes the no-show rate may be higher than other practices. Because of this, it makes sense for our practice to allow walk-ins at most times of the day. The exception is one hour before closing, unless it is a true emergency walk-in case.
There are times when a walk-in patient can be seen right away. Other times, they may have to wait an hour or two after the check-in process for an opening. Because of this, we alert each walk-in that there may be a wait time. If they do not mind waiting, then they are welcome to have a seat and wait. If they cannot wait, we then direct them to set up an appointment.
Like I always say, what works for me and my practice may not work for you and your practice. It all comes down to knowing your patient base, how your practice flows and gaps are and what makes the most sense financially and mentally.
I know that when I am personally trying to see a health care professional, it’s valuable when I don’t have to wait months for an appointment. So when we can extend a gesture to our own patients, I can understand that it is appreciated.
References
Read more insights from Dr. Mena here.
Read more on practice management here.
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Vittorio Mena, OD, MS, is the sports vision director with Optical Academy. Dr. Mena is also an optometric financial coach/fiduciary with Series 6 and 63 investment licenses and Series 2-14 life and variable annuity licenses. To contact him: menavitt@gmail.com |
