Software for cash-pay optometrists

An optometry practice runs two businesses under one roof: the exam lane and the optical. Most offices bill vision and medical plans electronically, which makes them HIPAA covered entities, so this page is for cash-pay offices that don't, often independents with posted exam prices. On the exam side, the admin work is booking, deposits, contact lens fitting fees and the follow-up visit. The optical side is frames, lenses, lab orders and inventory, and SoloWOS does none of it, so keep your optical point of sale or practice management system for that.

From booking to a released prescription

1. A patient finds your Link in Bio page: posted prices for a comprehensive exam, a contact lens fitting and a kids' exam, your hours and the booking link.
2. They book a 30-minute "Comprehensive eye exam" or a 45-minute "Exam with contact lens fitting" meeting type, with a $25 deposit at booking that's refunded automatically if they cancel at least 24 hours ahead (example numbers).
3. Booking questions: new or returning, interested in contacts, planning to shop for frames after. That tells you who needs the longer slot and when to have an optician free.
4. Before the visit, the patient signs your financial policy (exam fee due at the visit, fitting fee, no-show fee) through E-Signatures.
5. After the refraction, the glasses prescription goes to the patient right away, before any talk of frames, as the FTC Eyeglass Rule requires. That happens in your exam software or on paper, not in SoloWOS.
6. The exam and fitting fees go on an invoice with a pay link, or through your optical POS with the glasses order. The fitting follow-up books on a single-use link.
7. When the exam invoice is paid, an automation creates a task due in 330 days to send that patient's annual exam reminder.

A typical week

• Monday: fourteen exams on the calendar, five of them booked online with deposits.
• Tuesday: a patient misses a contact lens fitting. You mark the no-show, and they get an email with a link to book again.
• Wednesday: three fitting follow-ups book themselves on the single-use links you sent at last week's fittings.
• Thursday: a patient wants to buy glasses online. You handed over the prescription after Monday's exam, and the signed confirmation is in your records.
• Friday: the lab statement, a frame rep invoice and the equipment lease go into Expenses. Optical sales totals stay in your POS.

All 13 tools, one by one

How a cash-pay optometry office can use each tool. They cover the exam side only; the optical stays in your POS.

• Link in Bio: posted exam and fitting prices, your hours, a note that you're a self-pay office, and the booking link, on one page for your Google profile.
• Short Links: a QR code on the front window and the frame display that opens the booking page, with a separate link per spot to compare scans.
• Forms: a request form for school or employer vision-screening days: organization, headcount and dates. Patient forms stay in your EHR.
• Scheduling: comprehensive exams and longer contact lens fitting slots with a deposit, fitting follow-ups on single-use links, and no-show rebooking.
• Proposals: a quote for an employer or school eye-exam day, or a specialty lens fitting package, with a deposit percentage accepted online.
• E-Signatures: the financial policy and no-show fee for patients, and the agreement with an employer for on-site exam days, signed online with a certificate.
• Document Tracking: your price list or the employer on-site program PDF as a tracked link, so you see who opened it and how far they read.
• Screen Recording: a 2-minute screen video for new staff on how to find a deposit or resend a booking link. Patients won't need it.
• Notes & Boards: a board for the office: frame rep visits, equipment calibration, license renewal and CE hours. No patient names.
• Time Tracking: little use in the lane. It fits hourly work like consulting for an optical retailer or teaching at an optometry school.
• Invoicing: exam and fitting fees with a pay link, invoices for employer exam days, and one tax rate per invoice for anything your state taxes.
• Expenses: lab statements, frame rep invoices, equipment leases and CE courses with receipts, kept apart from the optical sales in your POS.
• Automations: a task 330 days after an exam invoice is paid to send the annual exam reminder, and a rebook email after a missed fitting.

FTC prescription release rules

Two FTC rules decide what you hand over and when, whether the patient pays cash or uses a plan. Both summaries come from the FTC's own guidance, listed under Sources.

• Eyeglass Rule: give the patient a copy of their prescription immediately after a refractive exam, without being asked and before offering to sell glasses. You can't require a purchase, a waiver or an extra fee for it. You can require payment for the exam first only if you also require immediate payment from patients whose exam shows no need for glasses.
• Eyeglass Rule confirmation: if you sell eyewear or have a financial interest in it, ask patients, after you give them the prescription, to confirm in writing that they got it, and keep that record for at least three years. A confirmation collected before the patient gets the prescription doesn't count.
• Contact Lens Rule: if you sell contact lenses, ask patients to confirm receipt of their contact lens prescription in writing after you provide it (a signed statement, a signed copy of the prescription or exam receipt, or a digital copy with proof it was sent), keep it for at least three years, and note it if a patient refuses to sign. Sellers who ask you to verify a prescription can treat it as verified if you don't answer within 8 business hours.
• 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.

SoloWOS doesn't hold prescriptions or these confirmations. A prescription is patient health information, so it and the signed confirmation belong in your EHR or paper chart.

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 RevolutionEHR: which fits

RevolutionEHR and Crystal PM are optometry systems with the optical built in. SoloWOS has no optical at all, so the comparison is about the exam-side admin.

• Choose RevolutionEHR or Crystal PM if you run an optical: they handle the frame board, the lab order and the sale tied to the patient's prescription, plus charting and claims.
• Choose SoloWOS if you're a cash-pay, exam-focused office outside HIPAA that needs online booking with deposits, a signed financial policy and invoices next to whatever optical system you already use.

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

Start with these three

Scheduling with two meeting types (exam, and exam with fitting) and a deposit, E-Signatures for the financial policy, and Automations for the annual exam reminder task. Add Invoicing if exam fees don't already run through your POS.

Free tools that help

• QR code generator for the front window and the frame display.
• Payment fee calculator to see what card fees take from a cash exam fee.
• Profit margin calculator for a frame and lens package after the lab bill.
• NPS calculator to score the patient survey you send after exams.

What SoloWOS won't do for an optometrist

• No point of sale, frame inventory, lens catalogs or lab orders.
• No exam records, prescriptions, or vision and medical plan claims.
• No text reminders; email only.
• No Business Associate Agreement.
• One tax rate per invoice, so taxable and non-taxable items go on separate invoices.
• 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.