[Growth] Why You Should Consider Doctor-Driven Dispensing in Your Practice

Michelle Kelley is the Director of Ophthalmic Materials and Services and a licensed dispensing optician at the Southern College of Optometry, a leading institution for optometric education in the US. Under her leadership, the college dispenses over 20,000 frames annually and trains future optometrists in best practices for optical management, including board management and customer service. Michelle recently completed her MBA while balancing her professional responsibilities and personal life, and enjoys teaching innovative business strategies to the next generation of eye care professionals.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[01:15] Michelle Kelley explains why patients trust doctors more than opticians during visits
[07:07] How dispensing seamlessly merges medical care with retail expertise
[08:56] Why using “prescribe” reframes products as healthcare essentials
[09:40] Tips to start doctor-driven dispensing in your own practice
[13:20] How team buy-in and numbers show success or improvement

In this episode…

Sometimes the biggest opportunities to grow a practice are hiding in plain sight. Many clinicians focus on clinical care and assume the optical side will take care of itself, yet so much revenue slips away simply because patients don’t know what to choose or who to trust. What if the path to better outcomes and stronger financial health started with one simple shift in the exam room?

According to Michelle Kelley, a seasoned expert who teaches future opticians and manages one of the busiest optical environments in the country, the answer is clear. She believes that when doctors guide patients toward the right eyewear solutions before they ever reach the optical, it changes everything. Michelle explains that patients genuinely want direction. They feel more confident when the recommendation comes from the clinician they trust most. When that handoff is intentional and supportive, practices see higher satisfaction, smoother operations, and far better optical performance. In her view, doctor-driven dispensing isn’t a sales tactic; it is a continuity-of-care strategy that elevates the entire patient experience.

In this episode of the Cleinman Connect Podcast, Kim Carson is joined by Michelle Kelley, Director of Ophthalmic Materials and Services at the Southern College of Optometry, to discuss the power of doctor-driven dispensing. They explore how a doctor’s recommendation influences patient decisions, why a structured handoff boosts optical revenue, and what practices can do to make the process feel natural rather than an up-sell.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“I like to say that opticianry found me, not the other way around.”
“There are enough frames that are on the board because you have a thousand patients that are coming in.”
“So I look at your frame as money on the board.”
“You want something that’s going to hold up and stand the test of time.”
“If it has not sold in six months, I want the rep to take it back so that we can put something on the board that sells.”

Action Steps:

Assess last year’s frame sales to set your board size: Using real sales data ensures you stock the right number of frames and avoid tying up cash in inventory that won’t move.
Assign fixed board space to each vendor: Clear boundaries prevent overbuying, keep your selections intentional, and make it easier for reps to manage returns and replenishment.
Choose vendors strategically and limit how many you work with: Fewer vendor relationships reduce time spent with reps, increase purchasing power, and help you negotiate better discounts.
Track which brands consistently turn and expand only those: Growing your high performers boosts cash flow, prevents stockouts, and keeps your board filled with products patients actually want.
Remove or return frames that haven’t sold within six months: Clearing stagnant inventory keeps your optical offerings fresh, improves cash flow, and ensures patients always see current, appealing styles.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Marketing4ECPs!

Working with them is like hiring a full-time marketing professional who knows the industry and understands your goals. Except, instead of one experienced marketer, you get a whole team in your corner.

Whether you’re an optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician, they can help you grow your business with a plan that’s completely customized for you. Learn more here.

Episode Transcript

Intro: 00:07

Welcome to the Cleinman Connect Podcast, where we discuss marketing, ownership, growth strategies, and everything else surrounding the business of optometry. Cleinman is Optometry’s trusted business partner for over 35 years.

Kim Carson: 00:27

Hello, I’m Kim Carson hosting Michelle Kelley on this part two episode of the Cleinman Connect Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Marketing4ECPs. Working with them is like hiring a full time marketing professional who knows the industry and understands your goals. Except instead of one experienced marketer, you get a whole team in your corner.

Whether you’re an optometrist or ophthalmologist or an optician, they can help you grow your business with a plan that’s completely customized for you. Learn more at marketing then the number four. So Marketing4ECPs.com. And I’m joined again this week by Michelle Kelley for her part two episode as we dive into Doctor-Driven Dispensing. If you could describe this idea behind doctor driven dispensing.

Michelle Kelley: 01:15

So doctor driven dispensing, you know, the when when a patient comes in, they’re coming to see the doctor. They’re looking at the review of the doctor. They’re not looking at the review of the optician opticians. We’re just salespeople. They see us as making commission.

And, you know, we don’t make commission. We are there to help. We are professional medical professionals that want our patients to see the best, but that’s not the way they see us. Because of commercial practices and the concept of working on commission, that that became just the way they viewed opticians overall. And so they trust the doctor more than they trust the optician.

And so doctor driven dispensing is basically it’s passing on that authority and that trust from the doctor to the optician. And I think when it works really well, you should follow a certain protocol or format. Format. There you go. Yeah.

So the the the doctor is in the exam room and so they hear what the patient struggling with. So for instance a patient talks about not being able to see well at night. We have a perfect solution for that. It’s called anti-reflective coating. And so all the doctor would do is say you know we have a solution that will help you see it at night.

It’s called anti-reflective coating. I’m going to prescribe that. And so he’s listening to what the patient’s complaint is. And he’s prescribing products to help that patient see better or to eliminate that issue that the patient’s having. So he does that in the exam room.

He does not talk about money. He doesn’t talk about, you know, any of the details about the product. He just says I have a solution for you. He writes that on the prescription. Then he either calls the the optician back to the exam room or he walks the patient to the exam room to the optical.

I personally like the the aspect of the doctor walking the patient to the optical, because that gives him a little bit more time with that patient. And you can talk about personal stuff. It makes it more personable to that patient. Him spending that extra time with them. And so once he gets to the optician, he’s explaining that product, not explaining in detail, but he’s explaining that he’s prescribed that product to the patient.

He’s passing on the authority to the optician. That patient’s also hearing it now two times that that doctor has prescribed that product and why that product has been prescribed. And then at after that’s done, the optician goes into detail and explains why that product was prescribed to them and how it’s going to help, help them to see better. And so it’s it’s here, the patient hearing it three times about the product. And so repetition is important.

We’re hard headed. We need to hear things multiple times. So they’re hearing that. But it also is that doctor passing on his authority and his trust to the optician. And so it’s not you know, I’m sending you to a retail environment for you to spend money and, you know, potentially this person collect a commission on it.

It’s about I prescribed you a product because I want you to see better. And I’m passing on my trust to my trusted employee that’s going to help you in filling that prescription. And so that’s doctor driven dispensing comes in. It’s about that trust and authority going to the optician from the doctor. But also when you hear something three times you’re going to remember it.

So our job is to educate. So our the doctor you know prescribe it educates the opticians responsibility. So the opticians educating you on why the doctor prescribed that. So you know, we’re not making any assumptions that the patient can’t afford it. That kind of thing.

We’re, we’re we’re talking about it that patient. Then it’s up to them whether they purchase it or not, but they’re going to remember when they can’t see well out of their glasses. And they chose a, you know, that less step of progressive, you know, that maybe that good progressive versus that best progressive. Remember when they’re not seeing it well and they’re going to remember because the doctor’s going to do the same thing the next year when they come in and get their prescription, they’re going to talk about the best product, because, again, they want the patient to see the best. They’re going to talk about that best product, and then they’re going to remember it.

And then they’re you know, they’re going to purchase it that second time because they’re going to remember that I didn’t see so well out of those progressives. And he told me that I’d be better out of this progressive versus the best progressive versus the good progressive. And so that doctor driven dispensing is I think it’s very important to get to that 70% mark with your optical sales being part of your revenue. So you want that 70% to be your goal. You want 70% of your revenue to come from your optical practices that do doctor sensing and do it well there at that 70% mark, they’re seeing 100% capture rates where every patients coming to the optical, they’re seeing that revenue come from their from their optical.

And that’s what you want it to do. You want a big portion of your revenue to come from your optical.

Kim Carson: 06:27

Yeah. And it’s because it’s such a tricky thing, right, to have this medical environment where these are prescriptions, these are things that are prescribed and they will help you live better. But here also is this retail side of it. So kind of lending that expertise to an optician who, you know, quite frankly already has the expertise. It’s just maybe, you know, someone like me who would go get an eye exam.

I don’t know that. You know, I don’t know that this optician knows you know, just as much about the anti fatigue on the glasses as the doctor does. So it’s lending that kind of vote of confidence to them as well.

Michelle Kelley: 07:07

It is. Yes. It’s it’s again him passing on that. You know that trust and trust we’re we’re picking our doctors because we trust them. You know, I have my cardiologist because I trust my cardiologist.

You have doctors that you’ve selected because you trust them. They’re picking their doctors, and they’re choosing their doctors because they feel comfortable with them. They know that they’re going to give them the best. And, you know, then they just send them off to go to the optical. And, you know, it just feels like they’ve been left in limbo where dispensing they’re not left in limbo.

They’re they’re prescribed a product that’s going to help them, just like you would a glaucoma drop. You’re prescribing a lens product that’s going to help them see the absolute best. And you’re you’re passing on that authority to the optician to, to to take care of your patient. That’s again about the care that the opticians giving to that patient. It’s not about the money that’s being spent.

It’s about you getting what is best for the patient.

Kim Carson: 08:09

Yeah. And I think too, in the episode that I did with Doctor Kimberly Friedman, she said that she also uses the term prescribe. So instead of, you know, I, I’m going to recommend this Eyedrop or I’m going to recommend this nutraceutical. She says, I’m going to prescribe these to you. And that’s just another way of like giving that vote of confidence I think.

So, you know, I’m prescribing you this anti-fatigue coating and this is my optician that knows all about it. And, you know, it is a prescription. Here it is. And that lends it to be more healthcare oriented than retail oriented, even though we do have this kind of meeting of those two things.

Michelle Kelley: 08:56

Yes. Kim, that was great. Would you say about prescribing you’re actually going to put it on the prescription? You’re not going to you’re not going to just put it in the chart where the optician can see it. You’re going to put it on the prescription.

So when the patient walks away with that prescription, it’s on there. And if they choose to go somewhere else, it’s still on there for the other, for the next person that’s filling that prescription to see. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the patient seeing well, yeah.

Kim Carson: 09:22

Okay. Amazing. What are some things that, you know, if currently there is someone listening who works in a practice and they don’t have this idea of doctor driven dispensing in their practice, how could they start implementing this strategy?

Michelle Kelley: 09:40

I think doctors think that they shouldn’t have to talk about the lenses, that that’s the options role. And I think that needs to be reexamined about the doctor and about the doctor, how they feel about that. I know that it can be complicated to add something new to the exam process, because the exam process is, you know, it has so many steps already. And just to add another thing to it can seem cumbersome, but it doesn’t have to be lengthy. It’s just, you know, hearing what the patient’s saying about what their problems are and you saying, oh, we’ve got a great progressive that will work for all areas of vision, and it’s going to work for your distance, your near and your intermediate.

And you know, it’s this progressive. It’s just having that quick conversation with them and realizing that just as you have a responsibility to treat glaucoma, you have a responsibility to treat vision as well. You know, you have you want your patient to see the best, and they’re going to see the best with your better products that you have. And it’s just you prescribing it, making sure that you’re spending just that two minutes telling the patient what you think is best for them and figuring out a way to get that authority to the optician, whether it’s the optician coming to the exam room or you taking the patient to the optical. You want to actually physically get that patient into the hands and the care of that optician.

And just not looking at it as sales. I think don’t want to see it as being salespeople. They’re not salespeople. You’re not selling that glaucoma drug. You’re prescribing the glaucoma drug.

You’re prescribing those lenses. And so just getting out of that mindset that you are selling something, you’re not talking about money with that optician, with that patient. The optician is going to talk about money with with that patient. And it’s not at all about selling. It’s about educating the patient about what’s going to give them the best benefits and best vision.

Just like that glaucoma drop. You’re going to educate the patient on the benefits of that glaucoma drop. You’re just doing that quick time where you’re prescribing something to a patient that’s going to give them the best benefits and then giving them to the oxygen. So just re-examine your mindset, you know, and be open to the possibility of doctor dispensing. You know, just just thinking outside the box and saying, okay, I’m open to this.

Let’s let’s look and see how it what it does for my practice and see if it if it increases the revenue of the optical and how it benefits you as a practice, and also how the reviews are coming in from your patient because you’re they can. And so not seeing it as something that is, you know, selling. I think a lot of doctors see it that way. And it’s not it’s not at all about selling. It’s about you passing on that authority and trust to your optician, but also prescribing and educating your patient on what’s the best.

And so if you can be open to the possibility of doing doctor dispensing, see how it benefits your patient and your practice. And if it doesn’t work, then you can not do it. But yeah I promise.

Kim Carson: 12:48

Yeah. I wonder if maybe, you know, a conversation with your optician and your optical team previous to to trying it and after trying it as well, I think that they might be a good source of feedback in addition to feedback from the patients or just feedback from, you know, the the sales or from people being like, yes, this is my prescription, I’m going to get these things. So that might be some good indicators of, of if it’s working for, your practice or not.

Michelle Kelley: 13:20

Amanda always says the numbers don’t lie. And so you’re going to see the numbers. You’ll see it. And I think your options are going to be very on board with it, because we do get frustrated with the patients thinking of us as salespeople when we are professionals. I mean, we spend the time and to learn about these lenses, we we want our patients to see well, and we don’t like it when they come back in and say, you know, when they’ve got that good progressive versus the best progressive, saying, you know, I can’t see my, my computer.

Well, well, we, we told you that, you know, we have this great lens that you’re going to be able to see your computer. Well, and you made the choice not to do that. And so when you have that doctor backing you on it, it just makes it a much smoother process.

Kim Carson: 14:07

Yeah. It makes a huge difference.

Michelle Kelley: 14:08

Yeah.

Kim Carson: 14:09

Okay. Well, I have one last question for you, Michelle. And before I ask it, I do want to point people to the marketing website again if you want to check them out. So that is marketing then the number four E. Com.

So the website for the Southern College of Optometry SEO edu. And my final question for you Michelle, is what advice would you give to anyone beginning their journey in the eye care industry as someone who is is in it currently, is doing great in it and teaches the next generation.

Michelle Kelley: 14:45

Don’t be afraid to take chances. You know you’re going to fail, but when you fail, don’t give up and get right back up. So just there are so many opportunities for us to learn from mistakes. And I think we’re we’re fearful about trying something new and something different. And I don’t think we should be I think we should look at mistakes and and things that did not work as opportunity.

Kim Carson: 15:12

That’s honesty, I love that. I love that we’re ending on that. I will say too, since I have started at Cleinman, that is absolutely one of the repeated things I hear working at Cleinman is that, you know, if you try something and you’re successful, great, you were successful. But if you try something and you were not successful, what did you learn from it? And that’s what you get to take out of it.

Michelle Kelley: 15:35

Absolutely. Learn a lot.

Kim Carson: 15:37

Yeah.

Michelle Kelley: 15:37

I think we all can. You know, we don’t have to see it as failure. Yeah. Just opportunity.

Kim Carson: 15:43

Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Michelle, for your insight and your time today. I really appreciate it.

Michelle Kelley: 15:48

Thank you.

Kim Carson: 15:49

Yeah. And if you like the show and you want to hear more, you can at Cleinman.com and wherever you like to listen. So thank you for listening today.

Outro: 16:02

Thank you for listening. At Cleinman, we take pride in helping our partners unlock their full potential. Subscribe to get the newest episodes or visit us anytime at Cleinman.com.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

In this episode…

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor for this episode…

Episode Transcript

Office Hours

Follow us on Social Media!