Myopia management isn’t just the standard of care,
1 it’s a game-changing opportunity for long-term practice sustainability and growth. By integrating
myopia control strategies, we’re not only taking an active role in combating the growing myopia epidemic,
2 but also establishing a steady, reliable revenue stream.
Let’s explore how myopia management has transformed our bottom line and share key insights to help your practice thrive.
Unlocking the revenue potential of myopia management
Implementing myopia management has elevated our per-patient revenue, strengthened patient retention, and positioned our practice as a leader in specialized eyecare.
Increasing per-patient revenue
No matter how a
myopia management program is structured, it involves specialized care and services that generate significantly higher per-patient revenue compared to traditional optical and contact lens sales. This shift reduces reliance on vision care plans, allowing for a more sustainable business model and the flexibility to see fewer patients per day while maintaining profitability.
Table 1: Example myopia management program fees. Adding myopia management services to our office has tripled our per-patient revenue, boosting our office's bottom line while allowing me to devote less time to patient care and sustain growth within our office.
| Year | Example Orthokeratology Program Fee | Cost of Goods/Services (COGS) | Per-Patient Earnings |
|---|
| Year 1 | $2,400 | $350 | $2,050 |
| Year 2 | $1,100 | $350 | $750 |
| Year 3 | $1,100 | $350 | $750 |
| Year 4 | $1,100 | $350 | $750 |
| Year 5 | $1,100 | $350 | $750 |
| 5-Year Total | $6,800 | $1,750 | $5,050 |
Enhancing patient retention
Standing out through specialization
Offering myopia management differentiates your practice from standard optical services focused solely on glasses and
contact lenses. As you specialize, you attract families actively seeking advanced, proactive eyecare, positioning your practice as a trusted leader in the field.
If you desire to have a high-net specialty practice and feel rewarded by protecting your pediatric patients’ eyes, consider incorporating myopia management.
I started my second office with a few goals in mind: work part-time near home, focus on myopia management, and grow a million-dollar practice within 2 years. I was able to achieve my goals because I took a leap of faith and invested my resources and time in myopia treatment.
I am convinced that myopia is a global pandemic and a major public health concern. Therefore, it was easy to open up a conversation with all my potential patients and create my own patient-based referrals.
I diligently opened up a myopia management conversation with:
- New myopic parents to minimize or delay their young children’s exposure to electronic devices
- Parents of myopic children to start myopia treatment before their child progresses another -0.25 diopter
- Parents of mild hyperopic and emmetropic children of very young ages are to take their child outside 90 minutes a day and start atropine treatment to delay the onset of myopia
- Couples with myopia to raise awareness of the genetic components of myopia
Your financial growth will be your reward when you believe what you are implementing in your practice will benefit your patients. Be diligent about educating yourself by attending myopia management seminars like Vision By Design and Global Specialty Lens Symposium. Get your staff involved by educating them that vital myopia treatment will benefit your patients and your practice.
I reached financial freedom before I turned 50. I challenged myself to get the results I wanted, and I am certain you can do the same.
Building a strong patient referral network
Establishing a
robust referral network has been a cornerstone of our success in myopia management. By expanding awareness beyond the exam room, we’ve created a steady stream of new patients while positioning our practice as a leader in childhood myopia care. Here’s how:
Harnessing the power of word-of-mouth
Exceptional patient care naturally leads to positive experiences, which in turn generate organic referrals. Our most effective strategy has been relying on our existing myopia management families to spread the word about the life-changing services we provide.
A strong patient experience fosters trust and encourages families to share their success stories within their communities.
Hosting events to expand our reach
While organizing a
continuing education (CE) course may seem daunting, it’s an invaluable way to establish yourself as a myopia management expert.
Hosting CE events has allowed us to connect with commercial ODs, positioning our practice as the go-to referral center for patients diagnosed with myopia during routine exams.
If public speaking isn’t your strength, consider hosting in-office events centered around myopia management. What started as a one-day showcase for us has since evolved into a month-long awareness initiative, ensuring that every individual who enters our office understands the importance of proactive myopia care.
Partnering with healthcare professionals and educators
Building relationships extends beyond the families we serve. Collaborating with commercial ODs, primary care providers, pediatricians, school nurses, and teachers has allowed us to create a powerful referral network beyond traditional vision or medical plan directories.
While developing these partnerships may take time, they can become a steady source of new patients who otherwise might never have considered our practice for myopia care. Through our partnership with Treehouse Eyes Myopia Care for Kids, we’ve made referrals even easier.
We provide referral partners with customized packets that enable them to sign up parents for automated text message campaigns,
educate them about myopia management, and schedule prospective patients with our virtual myopia coordinator, streamlining the process and ensuring that interested families receive the information and support they need to move forward with treatment.
Community engagement strategies for myopia management growth
Actively engaging with the local community has been instrumental in driving new patients into our myopia management program. Here’s how we’ve successfully connected with families and increased awareness of childhood myopia care.
Schools and community organizations
Partnering with local schools, park districts, chambers of commerce, the YMCA, and the Lions Club has provided valuable opportunities to engage with families through health fairs, vision screenings, and educational sessions.
While establishing connections with school systems can be challenging, we’ve leveraged personal relationships within our community to gain direct access to event organizers, opening doors for new outreach efforts.
Additionally, we equip parents with referral packets to share at their child’s after-school activities, helping us reach more young athletes who may benefit from
orthokeratology—offering a glasses- and contact lens-free solution for sports.
Leveraging social media and online presence
Search interest in myopia management has steadily increased over the past few years. While still a niche topic,
social media and
web traffic remain powerful tools for practice growth. Sharing testimonials from parents and children in our program has proven to be an effective way to attract new families.
As online searches continue to rise, maintaining a strong digital presence ensures that when parents seek a second opinion on their child’s myopia diagnosis, our practice stands out as the trusted choice.
Tips for boosting your online presence:
- Google Business Profile: Optimizing your profile with updates, offers, reviews, and services helps your business appear in local searches and Google Maps when a customer is searching for services.
- Website and blog updates: Regularly update your website and blogs with fresh content to signal relevance to search engines, strengthening your SEO rankings.
- Keep content unique: Unique and personalized content is essential for strong search rankings. Google's advanced analytics can detect repetitive content found elsewhere online, which may negatively impact your SEO rankings.
Collaborating with local businesses
How many myopia management referrals can you generate alone versus with the support of a community? Too often, we take on the burden ourselves, only to feel overwhelmed when efforts don’t yield immediate results.
A key strategy we’ve implemented is networking with other small businesses to extend our reach beyond our immediate patient base. By collaborating with professionals such as accountants, estate attorneys, dietitians, and real estate brokers, we’ve built a word-of-mouth network that helps identify potential patients.
These professionals frequently interact with young families and can introduce conversations about myopia management, directing them to our practice when concerns arise. Expanding our referral network beyond traditional healthcare providers has significantly increased our visibility and patient inflow.
Looking back over the past decade, it’s clear that the landscape of eyecare has dramatically shifted. Providers are feeling the squeeze from all sides: insurance reimbursements have remained stagnant, online retailers are taking market share, and the cost of goods is facing inflationary pressures.
As a result, the profit margins from selling glasses and contact lenses are diminishing, and I only expect this trend to continue. To thrive in this shifting landscape, it was clear my practice had to evolve.
One strategy was to differentiate my practice and specialize in myopia management, specifically catering to my growing pediatric population. Being an early adopter presented many challenges, but over time, my patients have come to see me as a trusted myopia expert.
This reputation has not only helped expand my referral network, but has also provided a welcome boost to my bottom line. While slowing myopia progression is now widely considered the standard of care, many insurance plans still do not cover these services, which has given me the flexibility to appropriately charge for my expertise and time.
Reaching this point wasn’t without its hurdles. Like mastering any new skill, it took hard work, dedication, and persistence. Initially, my myopia clinic started small, with just a handful of patients. But over time, it grew organically as word-of-mouth referrals from successful cases spread.
Before I knew it, my practice was thriving, with patients traveling across the city to see me specifically. There is a significant unmet need for myopia management, and this presents a fantastic opportunity for our profession.
Key strategies for successful myopia management implementation
Successfully integrating myopia management into your practice goes beyond just offering the service—it requires a well-trained team, patient-centered communication, financial flexibility, and adaptable marketing.
Here’s how to refine your approach to long-term success:
Train and empower your team
Your staff spends more time with patients than you do—make the most of that opportunity. If a parent asks, “What is myopia management?” and your team can’t confidently answer, that’s a missed chance to educate and engage.
Fit your staff with Ortho-K lenses
One of the most effective ways we’ve grown our orthokeratology patient base is by having staff members wear
Ortho-K lenses themselves. When they share their personal experiences, it makes the concept of overnight vision correction more relatable and easier for parents and patients to understand.
Plus, it sends a powerful message—Ortho-K isn’t just for kids; it’s a solution for various refractive errors in adults as well.
Offer flexible payment options
Myopia management is an investment—for both the family and your practice. Upfront costs can feel overwhelming for parents, making them hesitant to commit. Offering monthly payment plans makes the program more accessible, reducing financial barriers and increasing enrollment.
Additionally, these plans help stabilize revenue throughout the year, ensuring steady cash flow even during seasonal fluctuations when fewer children are starting treatment.
Figure 1: Cash flow over time with monthly payments versus full payments. Lump sums result in months with no incoming payments, which can impact cash flow needed to pay other bills. This graphic assumes five new patients each year and estimated median program fees.
Adapt and evolve your marketing strategy
Myopia management is a rapidly evolving field, and simply talking about it once isn’t enough. Consistent follow-up, accountability, and data-driven decision-making are key to sustained success.
Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs)—such as patient acquisition trends and referral sources—allows you to refine your outreach efforts. Rather than spreading energy across too many channels, focus on the most effective referral partnerships to maximize impact and avoid frustration.
Conclusion
Myopia management not only transforms patient care but also drives practice growth. By training your team, personalizing patient experiences, offering flexible payment options, and refining your marketing strategy, you can create a thriving program that benefits both your patients and your bottom line.
With the right approach to referrals, marketing, and operations, you’ll unlock new revenue opportunities while making a lasting impact on children’s vision and eye health.
