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Welcome to Optometry Simplified.

In this biweekly newsletter, I've curated the best resources to help you grow personally and professionally.

My mission is to find what's best for my patients and my practice.

Here's what I've found...

My Favorite Links

• As I work on creating a Nutrition & Longevity pillar at my practice, I’m diving into articles, both trade magazine and peer-reviewed research, on how diet and lifestyle impact ocular health. Here are two new ones I found: This article by Bradley A. Daniel, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO at Eyes On Eyecare on the role of nutrition in dry eye disease (DED) and the other by Tom Chwe, OD, Dipl. ABO on the role of nutrition and glaucoma management at Modern Optometry.
• Great leaders never stop learning. Andy Stanley, in this must-listen podcast episode, says that great leaders discipline themselves to 1) choose curiosity over being a critic and 2) choose to be a student rather than an expert. Listen to learn why the best leaders never stop learning.
• Myopia management is not just about patient care. It is also a significant economic opportunity for your practice. Many optometrists hesitate to fully integrate myopia management because they are unsure if it makes financial sense. This article by Wes McCann OD, MBA at Review of Myopia Management breaks down the numbers and shows how a well-structured myopia management program can be both clinically impactful and financially successful.

Journal Articles I'm Applying to Practice

• Which is more expensive? TearCare or twice daily prescription drops? This budget impact analysis published in Expert Review of Ophthalmology compared the annual costs associated with TearCare and prescription drops and found a cost savings for patients using TearCare vs. prescription drops. (Full text access).
• We better be ready to manage more chronic diabetic retinopathy in our practices. According to a new article recently published in the journal Ophthalmology, the incidence of diabetic retinal disease has increased over the last 8-10 years; however the incidence of vision-threatening retinal disease has decreased over that same time period. (Full text access)

Deep Dive

If there’s one universal frustration in optometry, it’s the tension between vision and medical insurance.

It’s the endless debates on optometry social media sites, the stress over reimbursements, the frustration of undervaluing the care we provide.

Many in our field advocate for avoiding the headache altogether by dropping all vision plans, going full private pay, billing exclusively as a medical provider, and/or subspecializing.

And while that might work for some, it’s not a scalable solution for the majority of optometrists. Why? Because it is estimated that 50% of US adults have managed vision care.

Instead of seeing vision insurance as a roadblock, what if we saw it as the way forward? What if, instead of resisting the system, we built a framework that allowed us to practice with vision plans—on our terms—while still delivering high-value medical eye care?

That’s where the principles of Comprehensive Optometry Simplified come in.

At Eyecode Education, we teach optometrists how to thrive within the reality of vision insurance by structuring their practices around full-scope, medically integrated eye care—not just glasses and contact lenses. That means:

• Owning the medical side of optometry while using vision exams as an entry point for deeper care.
• Structuring your patient flow and billing correctly so vision plans don’t dictate your schedule or revenue.
• Educating your patients so they understand the value of what you provide beyond refractions.

Vision insurance isn’t necessarily the enemy. I know, I know, that sounds crazy. But utilized appropriately, vision insurance can be an opportunity for growth.

The practices that win are the ones that embrace the obstacle and turn it into their advantage.

How We Make Vision Plans Work for Us, Not Against Us

Within the Comprehensive Optometry Simplified framework, the key is breaking your over-reliance on vision plans—not by eliminating them, but by shifting how you capture and manage patients.

Many practices default to using vision plans for far too many encounters, simply because that’s how they’ve always done it. Instead, the solution is an operating system that ensures:

✅ Patients with medical eye conditions are captured and managed properly according to clinical practice guidelines.
✅ Billing and coding align with those guidelines while maintaining profitability.
✅ The practice retains control over patient care instead of being dictated by insurance limitations.

The shift happens when you own the vision plan instead of letting it own you.

I break down these three steps in detail in this article:
3 Steps We Took in Our Practice to Sharply Reduce Reliance on Managed Vision Care Plans​

For now, the obstacle is the way. The future of primary care optometry doesn’t depend on avoiding vision plans—it depends on learning how to integrate them into a full-scope medical model that puts patients first while building a profitable, sustainable practice.

What's New at Eyecode Education

Speaking of "The Obstacle is The Way"...

In our latest Book Nerds podcast episode, we discuss The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday and explore how Stoic principles can help you lead your practice with clarity, resilience, and purpose.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or like you’re battling the same problems over and over, this conversation is for you.

Can you do me a favor? If you found any of these resources helpful, share this newsletter with one of our colleagues!

See you in 2 weeks!

--Kyle Klute, OD, FAAO

1515 S 152 Avenue Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68144
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