Optometry Coding & Billing Alert

You don’t shell out for the cost of remakes immediately, but if you have a high remake rate, you will most certainly pay more when it comes time to set terms with your lab, warns Joy Gibb, an optical manager and consultant who regularly teaches classes at Vision Expo.

To calculate your optical’s remake ratio, divide remake eyewear orders by total number of eyewear orders over a specific time period, such as the previous 12 months.

Tip: Ask your optical lab for your optical shop’s remake stats and how they compare to other opticals your lab works with, Gibb suggests.

What’s average: Fifteen percent of all spectacle lens orders require remakes. Some well-managed private opticals manage to get their remake ratios down to 5 percent. If you have a 20-25 percent rate, you know you have some problems to fix, says Gibb.