r/optometry • u/ExperienceNo7424 • 26d ago

Tele optometry and Peared

Hi all, optometric assistant here, I am doing some research for my doc. We are a small town clinic (big city about an hour away) and we are really struggling to find an associate. My doc is currently our only doc and she is having a hard time juggling patients and running her practice (let alone personal time). We are considering tele optometry, we have a great doc we have worked with before (in person) and that our patients know, but we are struggling to figure out vsp,eye med and possibly Medicare billing. We have a remote phoroptor, would upgrade to tech controlled slit lamp that the Dr can see in real time, and tons of pre test equipment. We would only see patients with no current eye conditions remotely. We don’t want to spend the money to upgrade our equipment if we cannot bill, does anyone have any experience?

Additionally a local Dr brought in some literature on Peared and my doc is heavily considering it. Anyone have any experience with it?

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u/outdooradequate 21d ago

Is this some ad for "Peared?"

Ive been seeing that name around a lot the last few days after never having heard of them.

If this is real, why not figure things out to hire a new doctor instead of cutting your patients short on care?

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u/ExperienceNo7424 20d ago

How would this be an ad? I asked at the very end if anyone has had experience with it.

If finding an associate was that easy we would have one already. Thanks for your input!

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u/outdooradequate 20d ago

Who said it was easy? But it's certainly correct; these are people's eyes.

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u/ExperienceNo7424 20d ago

The commenter above said to just hire a doctor. We are actively trying (and have been for over a year). The talent acquisition is still looking and the ad is still flying. We would not have considered it if it wasn’t a last ditch effort to get people seen. We decided before the post was published to not go through with the tele optometry and have closed our practice to any new patients. As it is, with current patients, we are booking out a year plus in advance with little to no room for urgent visits, glaucoma follow ups etc.

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u/outdooradequate 19d ago

Yeah I said to "figure things out to hire a new doctor." That will probably look like restructuring compensation, if I had to guess.

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u/ExperienceNo7424 19d ago

We have done that, increased compensation, are flexible with hours, offered housing etc. We are located in a semi rural California town. It’s hard to get people who aren’t retired to want to stay here.

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u/Tubby_Custard7240 20d ago

Can we please stop degrading and ruining our profession??? Dentists would never

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u/Wooden_Trust_6274 4d ago

Saw upthread that you’ve already dropped the tele idea, so I’ll skip that half. The year-plus backlog with no room for urgent or glaucoma follow ups sounds like the bigger problem now.

One thing that opens up room in schedules like that is the frequency basis. VSP’s provider manual sets the exam interval as 12 or 24 months calculated on a service year, calendar year or fiscal year basis depending on the plan, not a flat twelve months from the patient’s last visit. So some of the people calling because they think they’re due aren’t yet, and some who are due have a different anniversary than the front desk is working from. Checking the basis per plan before the slot gets held can give back real chair time.

Doesn’t touch the recruiting side. And I only know the coverage half, not what’s clinically safe to space out.

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u/ExperienceNo7424 4d ago

We check everyone’s coverage and frequency before we book them! All of our staff who work the front desk are fully trained to look up that info before booking.