For independent optometry and ophthalmology practices

Get more new eye care patients and keep your practice independent.

You run the practice. We run the work around it. Radi8 is the operations partner for independent optometrists and ophthalmologists. We set up and look after the work that pulls you out of the exam room: how patients find you online, your reviews and the routine admin. You stay the owner and the doctor.

Tell us about your practice or start on your own, 30 days free. Looking for an eye doctor? Find an independent practice.

Independent optometrists and ophthalmologists: one partner for the work outside the exam room

Just opened, or been here for years. The pressure is different.

Most practices are a bit of both. We start with what matters most to you.

Opened cold or bought in the last few years: Trained for the exam room, not the business around it

The lanes, the equipment and the loan arrived before the patients did. In optometry, a cold start pays rent and frame inventory before the schedule fills, so the practice has to be easy to find from week one. In ophthalmology, the practice grows on referrals from local optometrists and physicians, and those take time to build. You are the doctor, the tech support and the billing office at once, with a small team to share it.

"After a couple days of practice ownership, I realized I had so much to learn." Natalie Vu, OD, on opening cold, Vision Source, 2025

Established practice: Staying independent while chains and private equity grow

Your reputation is built. Your margin is not. In optometry, vision plans pay what they paid years ago while every cost goes up. In ophthalmology, Medicare keeps trimming payments, and prior authorization slows care. Trained techs get hired away, and chains with hundreds of offices compete for the same patients.

"Many private practices invest heavily in training only to see their staff poached by competing practices offering slightly higher wages." Robert J. Weinstock, MD, CRST, 2025

How to get more eye care patients, without doing it all yourself

These are services our team sets up and looks after for your practice. You see everything and approve anything that goes out under your name.

• Audit. See your practice the way patients do: A plain-language look at your Google listing, reviews, website and local search, and where new patients are slipping away.
• Friction. Clear what stops a patient choosing you: Wrong hours, missing services like dry eye care or contact lens exams, a listing that does not match your site. We find and fix the details that cost you the first visit.
• Automation. Routine work, drafted for your OK: Where we set it up for your practice, Olivia, our AI practice manager, drafts routine work like blog posts and other content for your team. Nothing is published, sent to patients or changed in your systems without your approval.
• Growth. Found by the patients near you: Your listing, reviews and local search kept current month after month, so patients find accurate, current details when they look for an eye doctor.

A partner that does the work, not another login.

We look first: we review your practice as a new patient sees it and walk you through what we find. We set it up: we start with the biggest gap and take on the work you choose, on top of the systems you already use. You stay the owner: you approve what goes out, see what changed every month, and decide what we take on next.

What independent eye care practices are up against

• Over 4% cut to Medicare payments for ophthalmology in the proposed 2027 fee schedule, by CMS estimates. (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2026)
• About 55% of Medicare-eligible beneficiaries were in a Medicare Advantage plan in 2025. The Academy says these plans delay and deny care for ophthalmology patients through prior authorization. (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2026)
• 900+ locations in one optometry chain, which agreed in 2026 to buy another group's optometry division of more than 300 offices. (Review of Optometric Business, 2026)

Stay independent. Get the help.

Tell us about your practice and what's taking your time. We'll tell you plainly where we can help, and where we can't.

Start on your own

Create your account and connect your systems. Your 30-day free trial starts once they are connected and verified.

Looking for an eye doctor? Search independent practices near you in the Radi8 directory. Practices: your listing is free to claim. Claim your listing

See the full AI Practice Manager

Photos: Dmitry Ratushny, Mari Helin-Tuominen, Foto Sushi (Unsplash, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons). Eye illustration: Radi8 Health.