Software for refractive surgeons and cash-pay ophthalmology

Most of ophthalmology is billed to Medicare and commercial insurance: cataract surgery, glaucoma and retina care. Elective refractive surgery (LASIK, PRK, lens implants for vision correction) is the part patients pay for themselves, and it runs like a sales funnel: an ad or a referral, a free consult, a quote, a deposit, a surgery date. That matters for SoloWOS. A practice that bills insurance electronically is a HIPAA covered entity, and HIPAA then covers its patients' health information, the cash-pay LASIK patients included. So this page is for cash-only refractive centers, and for the business tasks with no patient data: co-management agreements, staff and vendor contracts, speaking and consulting.

A LASIK consult, from ad to surgery date

1. Each ad and each referring optometrist's handout gets its own short link, so you see how many clicks the radio spot drove compared with the Instagram ad.
2. The link opens a free 60-minute "LASIK consult" meeting type with a 15-minute buffer for exams that run long and a 24-hour minimum notice. Booking questions: how they heard about you, preferred location, and whether they wear contacts, so you can send the instructions on stopping them before the consult.
3. The confirmation and both email reminders carry the prep notes your surgeon sets: how long to leave soft contacts out, and to bring a driver.
4. If they're a candidate, send a proposal the same day: surgeon's fee per eye, the enhancement policy, post-op visits included, and a deposit percentage that holds the surgery date. You see when they open it.
5. On acceptance, the financial agreement (refund terms if they turn out not to be a candidate, enhancement terms, cancellation fee) goes out for e-signature. Surgical informed consent stays in your EHR and your consent process with the surgeon.
6. The deposit invoice is created from the proposal, and the balance invoice goes out a week before surgery. Financing, if you offer it, stays with your financing partner.
7. When the balance invoice is paid, an automation waits 30 days and emails a review request.

Co-management with referring optometrists

Refractive and cataract surgeons often share post-op care with the optometrist who referred the patient. The agreement that sets out who handles which visits goes out through E-Signatures, a referral-program PDF shared with Document Tracking shows which offices read it, and a board in Notes & Boards tracks which practices you've visited. Have a healthcare lawyer write the agreement: co-management and referral arrangements carry federal and state rules this page doesn't cover.

A typical week

• Monday: eleven consults booked over the weekend, and the short link counts show 7 of the clicks came from the radio spot.
• Tuesday: consult day. Four candidates get a proposal before they reach their car, and two accept that night.
• Wednesday: both financial agreements are signed and the deposit invoices paid, so the surgery dates are held.
• Thursday: you visit two optometry offices and send one of them the co-management agreement. It's signed on Friday.
• Friday: surgery day. Last week's balance invoices are paid, and the 30-day review emails for last month's patients go out on their own.

All 13 tools, one by one

How a cash-pay refractive practice can use each tool. The consult funnel uses most of them; a few only help with referring offices.

• Link in Bio: a page with each refractive procedure you offer, the consult booking link, surgeon bios and your self-pay price range, to link from ads and your Google profile.
• Short Links: one link per ad, radio spot and referring practice, each with its own click count, so you know which source fills the consult calendar.
• Forms: a sign-up form for optometrists who want to join your co-management network: practice name, address, equipment and contact person. No patient data.
• Scheduling: free LASIK consults with a buffer, a minimum notice and prep instructions in the reminders; on Team, one meeting type spreads consults across two surgeons.
• Proposals: the refractive quote per eye with enhancement terms and a deposit percentage that holds the surgery date, with a record of when it was opened.
• E-Signatures: the financial and refund agreement for an elective procedure, and the co-management agreement with each referring optometrist.
• Document Tracking: your referral-program PDF and patient education brochure as tracked links, so you see which optometry offices read past page one.
• Screen Recording: a short screen video for referring offices on how to send a patient to your consult calendar. No use inside the exam lane.
• Notes & Boards: a board of referring practices by stage (visited, agreement sent, active) with notes from each visit. Keep patients off it.
• Time Tracking: rarely needed. It helps when you bill a device company for consulting or a law firm for expert review by the hour.
• Invoicing: deposit and balance invoices for elective surgery with a pay link and reminders, and hourly invoices for consulting work.
• Expenses: ad spend per channel, per-procedure laser fees, conference travel and CME with receipts, to weigh ad spend against the deposits it brought in.
• Automations: a follow-up email 3 days after a quote if it still isn't accepted, and a review request 30 days after the balance invoice is paid.

Eyeglass Rule and Good Faith Estimates

• Eyeglass Rule: after a refractive exam, you give the patient a copy of their eyeglass prescription right away, whether or not they ask, and you can't require them to buy glasses, sign a waiver or pay an extra fee for it. If you sell eyewear or have a financial interest in it, you also ask the patient, after handing it over, to confirm in writing that they got it, and keep that confirmation for at least three years.
• Good Faith Estimates: under the No Surprises Act, providers must give uninsured or self-pay patients a written Good Faith Estimate when they schedule care at least 3 business days ahead or ask what it will cost, on paper or electronically as the patient prefers. If the bill comes in at least $400 above the estimate, the patient can use the federal dispute process.

A SoloWOS proposal is a price quote, not a Good Faith Estimate: CMS sets what the estimate must contain and publishes a model notice. Use your EHR or the CMS model, and count the 3 business days with the business days calculator. Keep the prescription and the signed confirmation in your EHR or paper chart; both are patient health information.

HIPAA: who can use SoloWOS and for what

HIPAA applies to health care providers who send health information electronically in standard transactions, such as billing insurance. A cloud service that stores protected health information for a covered provider is a business associate and needs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). SoloWOS doesn't sign BAAs and isn't HIPAA compliant.

• If you bill insurance electronically, you're a covered entity: don't put your patients' health information in SoloWOS. Keep using your EHR or practice-management system for anything clinical.
• If your practice is cash-pay only and never bills insurance electronically, HIPAA may not cover you, but state health-privacy laws can still apply. Ask your lawyer before you rely on that.
• Either way, keep intake forms and booking questions administrative (name, email, preferred time, reason for the visit in general terms) and leave clinical questions for the visit and your records system.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or ModMed: which fits

ModMed (its EMA ophthalmology suite) and Nextech run whole ophthalmology practices. SoloWOS only covers the sales and paperwork around elective consults, so the overlap is small.

• Choose ModMed or Nextech if you run a full ophthalmology practice: charting, imaging, claims and the patient's whole history. Nextech also offers pay-over-time financing through Affirm, which matters for an elective procedure.
• Choose SoloWOS if you're a cash-only refractive center outside HIPAA, or for the business side of any practice: co-management agreements, consulting invoices and the short links that show which ads work.

Prices and features checked on October 23, 2026 on each company's site.

Start with these three

Short Links for each ad and referral source, Scheduling for the free consult, and Proposals for the quote with a deposit. E-Signatures follows with the first accepted quote.

Free tools that help

• UTM builder to tag each ad's link before you shorten it.
• Sales pipeline calculator to see how many consults a month you need for your surgery target.
• QR code generator for the referral pads you leave at optometry offices.
• Profit margin calculator to check the fee per eye after laser fees and staff time.

What SoloWOS won't do for an ophthalmologist

• No EHR, imaging, surgery center scheduling or insurance billing.
• No patient financing or payment plans; deposit and balance are separate invoices.
• No Business Associate Agreement, so nothing patient-facing for a practice that bills insurance electronically.
• Reminders by email only.
• No guidance on co-management fees or referral payments. Ask a healthcare lawyer.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.