Offering affordable care—on my terms

Excerpted from page 44 of the Winter 2025 edition of AOA Focus.

For optometrists in small towns, offering quality eye care, glasses and contacts close to home can be challenging. Vision plans reduce revenue and add administrative headaches, while cash prices can prompt patients to seek out more affordable care in larger cities.

Ashley McFerron, O.D., of Canby Eyecare, found that VisionHQ, an in-office membership plan solution available through AOAExcel®, solved many of her challenges. Now, her practice in the small town of Canby, Oregon, can provide quality care at more affordable prices.

What made you decide to use VisionHQ?

For years, I wanted to implement an in-house membership program, but the logistics of tracking everything seemed overwhelming. I needed a company that would handle all the administrative work for a relatively low cost in a really streamlined way, and VisionHQ fit that bill.

At the time we started VisionHQ, we only accepted two vision plans, which meant we had a lot of patients who were either out of network or didn’t have vision insurance at all. Being able to offer a solution for these patients was exciting. Within 60 days of implementing VisionHQ, we actually dropped one of our vision plans.

What was the process of getting started with VisionHQ?

After my office manager and I first spoke with the team, we knew it would be a good fit for us. The portal and dashboard were very easy to navigate. The most time-consuming part was determining our pricing, but even that took just minutes. VisionHQ’s dashboard has an area where you input your fees, and it suggests appropriate monthly and annual membership prices. After we had a launch call with the entire staff, we enrolled our first patient that same day. It was incredibly quick and easy.

How have you benefited from VisionHQ?

It has given us freedom from vision plans. We’re able to offer discounts on our own terms rather than accepting the major discounts that vision plans require. This has significantly increased our revenue while maintaining a high level of value to patients. From an administrative standpoint, it streamlined our billing. Patients pay VisionHQ directly, then pay us the discounted rate for products. On the first of every month, I receive an ACH payment from VisionHQ for all membership fees. We added an alert to each member’s chart to remind us to apply their discount on future visits.

How has it affected your patients?

We’re able to care for more patients because they see this plan as a benefit to them. The patient population that has benefited most—and this has really warmed my heart—is our Medicare Advantage patients. We don’t accept any of the Medicare Advantage vision plans, so they would have to drive 30 minutes to Costco or elsewhere for glasses.

Now they can use our eyewear-only VisionHQ plan and receive significant discounts on glasses here in town. We also offer family discounts, which are particularly beneficial for large families.

How has your practice changed since implementing membership plans?

In 18 months, we’ve enrolled 300 patients. We see 350 patients monthly for comprehensive exams, so this has become very popular. The most significant change is that we dropped a vision plan and are considering dropping our remaining one.

We’ve also expanded the program beyond traditional services. We’re using it for myopia management patients and offering it as a payment plan option for other cash-pay services. While patients don’t get discounts on these services, it allows them to spread payments over time without interest charges.

We also eliminated cash-pay discounts. The only way to get a discount now is through VisionHQ membership

Why would you recommend other practices take advantage of this benefit?

I’d recommend it to help practices free themselves from vision plans and increase revenue. We all take major discounts when working with vision plans, but with VisionHQ, you can offer discounts on your own terms.

That’s a big deal in our industry.

The program is simple to explain and allows us to care for more patients. The membership plan is a genuine benefit, especially for those who couldn’t afford our services or had to seek care elsewhere.