Episode #409

Does your optometry practice even need a front desk anymore?

September 8, 2026

What if one of the most familiar parts of your optometry practice is also one of the things most overdue for a rethink?

This week’s episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry is a little different. After a few updates on what’s ahead for the podcast—including upcoming guests, a potential optometry-owner ski meetup at Copper Mountain before IDOC Connection 2027, and an opening in the OD Masterminds Founders Club—I’m sharing an episode from another project that some listeners may not yet have discovered: The Optometry Success Podcast.

The Optometry Success Podcast is the show I co-host with Dr. Chad Fleming, partner at Wichita Optometry. Each week, we combine my perspective from working with optometric practice owners across the country with Chad’s boots-on-the-ground experience as a practicing OD, owner, and operator. The goal is simple: short, actionable conversations about ideas you can actually implement to build a more successful practice.

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And today’s conversation is a great example.

We tackle a deceptively simple question: Does an optometry practice even need a traditional front desk anymore?

As technology changes the way patients schedule, check in, communicate, complete paperwork, and interact with your team, it’s worth questioning whether the front desk should continue functioning the way it always has—or whether those valuable team members and payroll dollars could be deployed differently.

This conversation is also timely because a follow-up to this discussion is coming Wednesday on The Optometry Success Podcast. If you enjoy today’s episode, subscribe there as well so you can catch part two.

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