August 15,2026
By Beth Seidman, OD
All images courtesy of Dr. Seidman
When I was thinking of my ideal practice, I knew I wanted to create a practice model that had low patient volume and high revenue per patient. One of my biggest goals was to be able to spend time building rapport with patients and delivering higher-end care.
Opening the Eyecare Center of Ken Caryl fit my plan to do private practice work while maintaining personal flexibility. It was a larger, higher-end space with better parking and a more polished feel in Ken Caryl, Colorado.
By offering myopia management, I have been able to expand offerings to patients and build lucrative relationships. My practice has expanded by offering myopia management and by offering optical services for a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Working Alongside Pediatric Ophthalmologists
I work with a pediatric ophthalmologist who strongly supports myopia management. We built rapport treating surgical cases and patients with unreliable readings. She does not have an optical and refers to me for myopia management lenses. She prescribes MiSight Day 1 Lenses and atropine but did not use CRT previously.
Partnering with a pediatric ophthalmologist helps our revenue and lets me grow the optical side without needing every patient to be mine clinically. We handle her patients’ optical fittings and two-week fit checks, then refer clinical follow-up back to her for six-month refractions.
Additionally, one of the areas that our practice benefits from partnering with a pediatric ophthalmologist is talking to patients and their parents about the cost of myopia treatments. In my experience, optometrists can be reluctant to discuss prices with patients; we downgrade, discount or even give away services because we feel we should take care of people. Ophthalmology has a different tone: “We did a refraction and you are myopic; you should do myopia management.” Learning presentation techniques and how to tell a parent that this is the recommended, not optional, treatment is beneficial.
Patient Communication and Education
I have always loved contact lenses. In school, I fit scleral and GP lenses and worked with early myopia control concepts. I came out of school determined to fit what I believed was healthiest and best for patients, and I have avoided two-week disposable lenses since. Prioritizing long-term ocular health is important to me.
Eyecare Center of Ken Caryl Staff
My practice focuses on myopia management integrated with a high-end optical. With fewer patients, I can have better conversations and careful fittings. It also creates loyalty when families see consistent, thoughtful management.
My approach to discussing myopia management relies on multiple conversations, not a single pitch. Many parents arrive with little understanding of myopia control options. My associate and I explain choices and our return-visit protocol. We brand and hand out flyers for different myopia management treatments. We offer follow-up appointments including both parents if one parent is initially unavailable, so both caregivers can ask questions and get proper myopia management education.
Patients often want to hear from someone who has used CRTs, so I schedule those patients to check out with a staff member who has personal CRT experience. That makes myopia management discussions feel more practical and less theoretical. It makes a difference in parents’ opinions on hard lenses.
Challenges and Expectations
The biggest challenge is getting parents to bring children in. Even in an affluent area, households with young children can be a smaller share of the population. For me, pricing has not generally been the main obstacle. Buy-in is. If parents do not perceive the benefit of what we’re offering, they may decline care regardless of cost.
I believe every eye care professional should know about myopia management, even if they do not offer it. There are plenty of pediatric patients for practices willing to provide these services, and collaboration can help meet demand.
Myopia management has become integral to how I practice and I aim to keep building services with partnerships. By offering multiple, on-label options alongside thoughtful patient communication, I have improved patient and parent acceptance and provided accurate personalization. The model of fewer patients and deeper care has fulfilled my goals and allowed for better relationships with patients.
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Beth Seidman, OD, is the owner of Eyecare Center of Ken Caryl in Littleton, Colorado. She is a current member of both the American Optometric Association and the Colorado Optometric Association. |
