LATEST NEWS

Proven Tactics for Eye Care Financial Success

As an eye care practice owner, you understand the importance of financial success. Generating consistent revenue and optimizing profitability are key to sustaining and growing your practice. In this blog post, we will explore proven strategies that can help you increase the financial performance of your eye care practice. By implementing these strategies, you can drive success and achieve

Eye Care Practice Trends: Key Insights for Buyers

The eye care industry is dynamic and constantly evolving. For potential buyers, understanding the current trends and emerging opportunities in the market is crucial. By staying informed about industry advancements and identifying potential growth areas, buyers can make well-informed decisions that align with their goals. In this blog post, we will explore key trends and opportunities in the eye

Successful Sale of an Eye Care Practice in Ohio: A Case Study

The Client: Dr. Scott owned and operated an optometry practice in Ohio for over 35 years. With approximately $700,000 in annual revenue and 5 employees, he had built a comfortable lifestyle over the years with his take-home pay and other benefits totaling about $275,000 per year. As he approached retirement age, he began to think

Strategic Solutions for Optimal Practice Success

As an owner of an eye care practice, you may reach a point where you are considering either selling your practice or merging with another practice. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to carefully consider which option is the best fit for your specific situation. In this article, we’ll explore the differences between selling

How to Negotiate the Best Deal for Your Eye Care Practice Sale

Selling your eye care practice is a major decision that requires careful consideration and planning. One of the most critical steps in this process is negotiating the best deal for your practice sale. Negotiation is an art, and it requires a certain set of skills and strategies to ensure that you receive a fair and favorable deal that

Optometry Success: 7 Essential Skills for Thriving Practices

Operating a successful optometry practice requires a unique combination of skills and qualities that range from business acumen to interpersonal communication. Whether you are a new optometrist looking to start your own practice or you are considering the purchase of an optometry practice for sale, it’s essential to be equipped with the right skills and knowledge to navigate the

Mistakes To Avoid When Buying An Eye Care Practice

Are you on the hunt for the perfect optometry practice to call your own? Well, hold your horses! Before you dive headfirst into the world of practice ownership, there are a few mistakes you’ll want to avoid. Trust us, we’ve seen it all at Optirova. Mistake #1: Skipping the research. Just because a practice is for sale,

How much do Optometry practices sell for in 2023?

Optometry practices are often seen as a lucrative investment opportunity, and for good reason. In 2023, the demand for optometry services is expected to continue to grow, driven by an aging population and increasing rates of chronic eye conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts. This demand, combined with the relatively low cost of entry for

Expert Advice on How to Sell Your Optometry Practice in 2023

Are you ready to sell your optometry practice and move on to the next chapter of your life? Before you put your practice on the market, it’s important to take some time to prepare and ensure that you get the best possible price for your hard work. Here are five tips to help you get

Reading Financial Statements (or Solutions for Insomnia)

Reading financial statements may not be the most exciting thing to do in your business, but it is one of the most important.  Your practice’s financial statements are the “thermometer” of your practice’s financial health. To properly manage your business, you have to review your statements at least monthly.  Most financial statements are composed of

10 Easy-to-fix Mistakes that are Hurting your Business

Just to start out on the same page, we are not covering a really important factor: location (or as they say in the real estate business, “location, location, location”).  The reason we are NOT covering this significant issue in this article is found in the first word of the title: Easy.  Fixing the location is

How To Get More Patients Into Your Optometry Or Ophthalmology Practice

Some eye care practices already have all the patients they want or need, and don’t really want to add to their schedules.  But most of us want to get more patients through the door to maintain and grow our practices.  Here are some tips to bring in new patients. Your best prospective customers are the

How Much is an Optometry or Ophthalmology Practice Worth?

We hear this question every day, and the answers can vary a lot based on a variety of details.  Here are some of the factors that will influence the value of an optometry or ophthalmology practice. Cash Flow. The biggest influencer of value is typically the amount of cash flow the practice generates. For example,

Optimize Income: Attract Cash Patients

Many eye care practices are on numerous insurance and managed vision care (MVC) panels. These vision plans bring in patients that are members of that plan which is a marketing benefit for the practice. According to a study done by The Vision Council VisionWatch U.S Consumer Study in Q1, 2020, about 50% of U.S. adults

Revitalize Your Practice: Attracting Cash Patients Guide

Many eye care practices are on numerous insurance and managed vision care (MVC) panels. These vision plans bring in patients that are members of that plan which is a marketing benefit for the practice. According to a study done by The Vision Council VisionWatch U.S Consumer Study in Q1, 2020, about 50% of U.S. adults

The Rest of the Story- Reinhold

Reinhold worked hard to succeed in life.  He became an Optometrist and opened a practice in Chicago in the 1920’s.  Reinhold was also a very active person socially, becoming friends with people from all walks of life.  He loved hearing people’s stories and he lived vicariously through the very different lives of the people he

The Rest Of The Story – Rene Russo

Rene Russo was born into a tough life.  Her father left her barmaid mother when Rene was just two years old, leaving her mother to raise Rene and her sister as a single mother.  In junior high school, Rene was struck by scoliosis and had to wear a full body brace for support.  She was

The Rest of The Story- Bashar

Bashar al-Assad was born into a prominent family in the middle-east, with a powerful father that had risen from poverty to have a wealthy and influential place in society.  Bashar’s older brother Bassel was groomed to take the reins of the family business.  Bashar had no interest in following in his father’s footsteps, indeed, he

The Rest of The Story- Arthur Ignatius

Arthur Ignatius went to medical school in England in the 1880’s, graduating in 1881.  For his first position out of college he accepted a post as the ship doctor on a voyage bound for South Africa during the first Boer war.  When he finished this engagement, he started a practice in Plymouth, England in 1882

What Else

I used to go to an old fashioned butcher when I worked in a different town. It was owned by two Polish brothers, and they had some incredible kielbasa! I would go in and order the kielbasa, and whoever took my order always had the same response after wrapping it: “And what else”? I would

How Do I Sell My Optometry Practice

“I want to sell my optometry or ophthalmology practice.  How do I start?”   This question can have many answers depending on how quickly you want to transition.  If you are thinking that you want to sell NOW, the answer is very different than if you want to sell in three years.  We will give

Are You Thinking Of Selling Your Medical Practice?

Are you thinking of Selling your Medical Practice? Getting a fresh start in the first quarter is always an optimal time to plan for the coming year. If you are a medical practice owner, you might be thinking about selling your practice. Reasons may include early retirement, a change of geography, or the desire to

Make Your Practice More Valuable

The easiest way to make an ophthalmology or optometry practice more valuable? Increase profits and cash flow. How do you do that? Increase sales and margins, decrease expenses. Simple, right? Since that was so easy (laugh here), there are some other things you can also do to increase the value of the practice – many

Managing Frame Inventory by Eric Rollins, Rollins Consulting LLC

By Eric Rollins, Rollins Consulting LLC Managing your frame inventory means better cash flow and more profitability. One of the most neglected areas of practice management is frame inventory.  Other than a practice’s diagnostic equipment, it is usually the largest expense of capital for the practice, so it makes good sense to manage it efficiently.

How to dismiss a patient from your eye care practice

Before we get to the tools and techniques for dismissing a patient, let’s talk about reasons that the doctor/patient relationship may break down.  If we can prevent the need to dismiss a patient, it is much better to take positive action to keep the relationship intact. The number one reason for patients to lose confidence

Strategic Timeline: Selling Optometry or Ophthalmology

At OptiRova, we get that question all the time. Unfortunately, there is no concrete answer. We have had eye care practices sell in two weeks, and we’ve had other practices that have not sold after 2 years. There are however steps you can take to get your practice to sell faster. We have found that

Know the Numbers

When you are in a solo practice, it’s pretty easy to feel lost on the business side of things. After all, if your practice is busy you are in a dark room saying “which is better, 1 or 2” all day long and you don’t even get to observe what is happening in the rest

Aesthetics in Practice

I recently consulted on-site with a Texas optometrist, arriving Sunday afternoon for a Monday morning start.  The practice was in a smaller town in the southern part of the state.  One of the things I usually do is check out the competition.  In this case, Siri directed me to 3 other optometrists. I went to

A First: Blind Man’s Sight Restored With Optogenetic Therapy

The vision of a man who lost his sight because of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) has been partially restored with optogenetic therapy in the first reported case of functional recovery in a neurodegenerative disease following this novel treatment. “It was breathtaking to witness the first recovery of some visual function in a blind patient,” Botond Roska,

NeuroLens technology

Another new device has come to the eye care field to aid in visual alignment called the neurolens Measurement Device, or nMD. The second generation of the device is expected to debut in the summer of 2021, which will be called the nMD2. This device is a highly accurate eye alignment measuring system to identify

Dark Adaption

A new technology to diagnose age-related macular degeneration (AMD), dark adaptation can find changes to the macula years before traditional methods. Research has shown that our eye’s ability to see in a darkened environment weakens at the earliest stage of AMD. The accumulation of drusen deprives the rods and cones of the retina of the

Screenaching me Crazy!

Our lives have become increasingly dependent on technology. We rely on our screens for everything from productivity to pleasure, education to recreation, work to leisure. It’s hard to imagine our lives without our screens. As I’m looking at a screen to type this post my youngest son has facetimed me to show me his new

Could Eye Drops and Eyeglasses Prevent COVID?

One of the pathways to COVID infection is through contact with the eyes.  There was a study in China, published by JAMA Ophthalmology on September 16, that found only 6% of 276 patients hospitalized at Suizhou Zengdu Hospital were myopic and needed to wear glasses, versus the proportion of population of the Hubei province where

Vision Insurance or Managed Care?

According to the Vision Council VisionWatch, Consumer Study in the 1 st quarter of 2020,50.3% of U.S. adults have some form of vision insurance or managed vision care (MVC)benefits. Yet most private eyecare practices have 80% to 90% of patients with MVC. We believe two factors are driving this phenomenon. First, if a patient has

Private Equity (PE) Continues Its Push Into Eye Care

Recently it was announced that 1-800-Contacts had been bought by private equity firm KKR & Co.  The deal was valued at over $3 billion.  The Seller was another PE firm, AEA Investors, who bought the firm 4 years ago (2016) from PE firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. Large PE players continue their push into eye

Warby Parker’s Return On Investment

At the end of August, it was announced that Warby Parker raised $245,000,000 in funding from D1 Capital Partners, Durable Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price, and Baillie Gifford.  Why are these huge investment firms putting their money in Warby Parker?  Obviously they expect to get a significant return on their investment. 0How does Warby Parker

DIY PPE with Eric – Part 2

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DIY PPE with Eric – Part 1

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The Way To The Egress

P.T. Barnum’s American Museum (New York City, 1841-1865) was incredibly popular.  So popular that 38 million people visited themuseum.  Keep in mind that the total population of the United States in 1860 was under 32 million!  People would spend the entire day there going from one exhibit to the next, and then back again. This

Seeing Clearly In 2020 – OptiRova

Trends come and go, but good business decisions last forever. If you are looking to buy or sell a professional practice in 2020 you may find yourself overwhelmed with exactly where to start. Here we’ll discuss the proper steps you should take to help you see clearly (see what we did there) in the new

Private Equity – OptiRova

One of the more talked-about trends in eye care is the growth of private equity purchasing eye care practices. The “game plan” for most private equity firms is to “roll-up” a large number of practices, reduce expenses, increase earnings, and then sell off the entity holding the practices. The horizon for most private equity firms

Does Pregnancy Affect Your Vision?

As a new mother, you are growing and changing every day – some of those changes may be happening to your eyes. Not to worry! Changes in vision are a normal part of pregnancy. When you become pregnant, your body produces a chemical called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. This hormone can cause drastic changes

The Link Between Breast Cancer Treatment and Eye Issues

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This month highlights ways to recognize breast cancer and the treatment options available for women and men across the globe. But did you know that some breast cancer treatments can cause itchy and dry eyes? Heres how. Hormone Therapy While the treatment of breast cancer can vary, one

All About The Missouri Optometric Association Conference

It’s that time of year again! The Missouri Optometric Association will be hosting its annual conference on October 3-6, 2019 in Lake of the Ozarks at Tan-Tar-A in beautiful Osage Beach, MO. This premier event for Optometrists is hosted along with the Commission on Paraoptometric Certification and is an amazing networking opportunity for all members

Nutrient Deficiency and Blindness: Unveiling the Impact

News out of the University of Bristol recently examined a patient who suddenly went blind after a year of suffering gradual hearing loss. After endless testing, it was determined that the patient went blind from lack of nutrients after consuming only potato chips, french fries, and white bread since elementary school. It all started with

Optometry Impact: Retinal Selfies & Smartphone Trends

It’s 2019 and it’s fair to say that a majority of the U.S populations is constantly glued to their phones. According to an article from the Optometry Times high quality medical imaging is now a possibility with smartphone technology. Pretty crazy right? This is how it works. The tympanic membrane is a forming part of

Focus On Patient Satisfaction, Not Costs

You see these digital live webinars or social events on the topic of what physicians are spending for care. Titles like “Are You Paying Too Much In Taxes?” or “Are You Paying Too Much In Lab Bills?” And of course all of us have a fear of paying too much…for just about everything from gasoline to

How Artificial Intelligence Will Change The Future Of Eye Care

With the growing age of new equipment, the eye care industry is adjusting and adapting. New technology is making it easier to detect and treat some of the eyes most elusive diseases, in turn, creating solutions to the worlds patients. See how artificial intelligence is bound to take over the optometry and ophthalmology industry forever.

Protect Eyes: Understanding Summer Sun Risks

The summertime is a great time for friends and family to get out in the sunshine. And when you are from Michigan, well, you soak up as much of it as you can. But remember that your eyes need to stay protected from the suns harmful rays. Consider these different ways the ultraviolet rays can

Understanding Cataracts: Key Facts for Clarity

Most Cataracts Are Related To Aging Cataracts are very common among older people with more than half of American’s either having cataracts or having cataract surgery by the age of 80 years old. When looking for symptoms of a cataract, look for clouding and darkening of the eye lens, which blocks vision. For aging people

Driving With Glaucoma Could Be Deadly New Report Suggests

New research suggests that individuals with moderate to severe glaucoma were much more likely to be involved in motor vehicle accidents. This study came from Jonathan Myers, MD, at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. While most patients reach the legal standard for driving, there are still many associated risks that are looked over. The new

How Myopia Cost The Global Economy Billions

A new study has shown that Myopia vision impairment has cost the global economy over 244 billion dollars since the year 2015. This study, published in the Ophthalmology journal also notes that over 538 million people have impaired vision from uncorrected Myopia, which in turn affects productivity and profit directly. Myopia is also known as

Michigan Students Gather Together To Help Colorblind Classmates

A group of boys from Kalkaska Middle school took it upon themselves to collect bottles and cans for colorblind students. They did so by collecting pop-cans and bottles along surrounding neighborhoods and by walking door to door asking for donations. The leader of this great deed was John Buck, who has a colorblind brother himself

Ophthalmology Device Market Forecasted To Grow Over 36 Billion

Latest reports from the Global Market Watch predict that the Ophthalmology device market is expected to grow by over 36 billion dollars by the year 2025. This market is segmented into different types including drugs and devices, and is further segmented between each category. The drugs sector is split into drug delivery types, disease type

Playing It Safe With Your Eyes While Playing Sports

When playing sports it’s easy for teams to get a bit intense. There are over 33,000 reported sports related eye injuries each year according to the Prevent Blindness Foundation. It’s important to keep your eyes safe and protected when in a competitive match. Since April is Sports Eye Safety Month, check out our tips for

Arkansas Optometrists: Laser Procedures Victory

Last week a new law went into affect in Arkansas that would allow different optometrists to perform surgical procedures like lid lesion removal in their office of practice. This would make Arkansas the fourth state in the U.S to permits these procedures following Oklahoma, Alaska, and Kentucky. The bill also asks for the Board of

Protect Your Eyes: Facts About Screen Time Impact

In this day and age, it’s nearly impossible to find someone who is not constantly connected with their phone or a digital screen. But, recent studies have shown that excessive digital screen time can have a negative effect on your eye sight. From dry eyes, to damaged retinas, too much screen time may not seem

U of Alabama’s Workplace Eye Clinic

In the age of technology, most jobs involve heavy use of cell phones and computers. Studies have shown that after years of staring at a computer or phone screen, a person’s eyesight can be greatly affected. The University of Alabama is working to combat this reality by opening a specialty eye care clinic aiming to

Launching Your Practice: 5 Vital Considerations

When you are looking at buying a professional practice there are so many different factors to consider that it can get overwhelming. You may find yourself wondering just where to start. In this informational guide we walk you through 5 things you should get in order when you are acquiring your optometry, podiatry, or dental

Unveiling Risks: Diet Soda Ingredients and Diabetic Blindness

Diet drinks are often branded as the “healthier” option for consumers, but new a new study finds that actually isn’t the case. According to the American Optometric Association, there is a strong association between adults who drink diet drinks often weekly and having proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). PDR is described as damage to the blood

Winter Blues: 3 Ways The Winter Season Affects Your Eye Sight

There are many reasons the average person may feel gloomy around the winter time. Lack of sunlight and falling temperatures could not only have you feeling down, but could create some major health issues. So, don’t just brush it off as the typical “Winter Blues” when serious eye health repercussions could occur. Here is a

Jessica Starr’s Recent Death Puts Spotlight on Lasik Surgery

Detroit meteorologist Jessica Starr was found dead from an apparent suicide December 12th, just a few months after her Lasik eye surgery back in October. It is believed that the complications along with her surgery had caused her to be in extreme pain. Many talk about the benefits of Lasik eye surgery, but there are

How Major Changes In Technology are Affecting Eye Care

A recent study from Cohert News shows a monumental increase in the Optometry ophthalmic equipment industry, estimating the market to almost double by the year 2026. These factors including new opportunities, forecasts, market shares and competitors in the field. So what changes should we expect new technology to bring? If you’re in eye care, you need

Vision Direct Gets Hacked: Was Your Information Compromised?

Vision Direct is an online optical retailer that sells contact lenses, solutions and eye care products. Purchased by Essilor two years ago, it describes itself as Europe’s biggest online seller of contact lenses and eye care product. After being an online source in the eye care industry for over 5 years it had it’s website hacked

Still Got What It Takes

I still remember the drive that that helped me get through college and med school and to become successful in my new career. I was fresh out of medical school and residency and eager to launch into that new career. But, now all of a sudden here I am at retirement age! The big question

Increasing Profitability

There are essentially two ways of increasing profitability in a professional practice: cutting costs, and increasing sales. Here is a quiz for you: which increases the bottom-line profit more for a practice, reducing cost of goods by 20%, or increasing sales by 20%? Give yourself a moment to answer the question before reading on. Here

The Four P’s

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.9″] How do you handle situations when your staff needs guidance?  I was reminded of this philosophy last evening when on a walk in the neighborhood.  A woman was in the front yard ripping on her approximately 12 year old son pretty harshly.  His friends were in the yard with them.  My

Your Attorney

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.5.1″] We were at a seminar where an attorney spoke regarding buying and selling businesses.  She brought up an important point: your attorney for this task should not be the same one you would use for a divorce or a drunk driving defense.  It’s important that your attorney for buying or selling

How Much is it Worth?

I have had a number of questions regarding the value of practices recently from both potential buyers and sellers. Some of them have referenced articles that have been published in the trades. Two particular articles have been problematic: an article in the American Optometric Association published in January 2015 and an article published in the

OD’s per State

A recent article in Women in Optometry gave total numbers of women, and total numbers of optometrists, in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. It gave me the thought to calculate the total number of population per optometrist by state. It is somewhat illuminating. The column below shows that there are 4.2 times

Capture Rate

Capture rate is a frequently discussed number in the eye care community, with several variations on how to calculate the number. Simply put, the capture rate is the percentage of people who are refracted that purchase eyewear from the practice. The most frequently suggested method is to take the number of glasses sold and divide

Know Your Numbers

Some years ago as the V.P. of Sales & Marketing for an optical laboratory I accompanied our sales rep into the office of an Optometrist for whom our lab did 100% of the work. He was an engaging and forward-thinking gentleman with a lot of drive. The purpose of our visit was to talk about

Warby Parker Observations

Warby Parker was founded in 2010 by a quartet of people who studied at the Wharton School of Business together, and within 2 years was able to raise over $50,000,000 in investment funding. Their initial thrust was on-line eyewear sales, with a “hip” feel and viral marketing. They quickly achieved over a billion-dollar market valuation.

Luxottica – Essilor Merger

This is my opinion, and “not necessarily the opinion of our sponsors.” What will the merger of Luxottica and Essilor mean for the eye care industry? 1. Increased pace of consolidation for ECP’s. There has already been a lot of activity in this sphere, with companies such as MyEyeDr and Clarkson Eyecare buying many independent

Advantages to Owning the Practice

I speak to some of the Colleges of Optometry in the United States, and without fail get asked what is the advantage of owning your own practice, versus the advantages of working for someone else. My reply to this question is usually pretty long, but I’ll try to shorten it for this blog. The obvious

Maximize the Holiday Season

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day has been known for years as the top shopping period of the year. Thanks to insurance and flex spending accounts, it is also a great time of year to boost sales in the eye care field. Make sure you are contacting your patients with your holiday sales

An easy way to determine Managed Vision Care (MVC) profitability

Have you ever wondered if you are making a profit with certain MVC plans? In order to know if you are profiting, you need to know two things: your cost per hour to keep your doors open, and your reimbursement per hour for patients of the MVC seen by your practice. To calculate your cost

Appraisals

I have read articles published in many eye care publications including Review of Optometry, Eyecare Business and others discussing the value of getting a professional appraisal. I have read some “experts” opinions saying that practices should sell for 55% to 65% of the last three years’ average gross collections. Others say that practices will sell

Service

How can you thrive in today’s marketplace? A huge part of developing a successful practice is service. Service can take on many forms, but we all know when we are getting good service or bad service. Think of the last time you went to a restaurant. Was your service good or bad, and what were

Welcome Post

Welcome to OptiRova LLC and the Professional Practice Marketplace. We are here to serve the Eye Care marketplace and the Eye Care Professionals that care for their patients’ vision. We look forward to assisting many ECP’s to achieve their goals, be it buying a practice, selling a practice, or improving a practice. During the past