Practice Playbook
The Dry Eye Service Guide how to run dry eye care as a service.
A practical model for making dry eye a dependable, recurring part of the practice: one exam routine, one staff owner, two ways to get products to patients, and growth paced by your own numbers.
In one paragraph
Screen, treat, assign an owner, then grow.
Screen at every visit, run the same test-and-treat routine each time, and make one staff member responsible for it. Keep a few steady sellers in the office, ship the rest through RescueLink with automatic refills, and add testing and procedures in stages as patient volume proves demand.
Worth knowing
- Dry eye is common: published prevalence estimates range from about 5% to 50% depending on the population and definition.
- Everything rests on one exam routine: screen, measure, decide, send.
- A named staff lead keeps the service running without the doctor chasing it.
- Two channels carry products: in-office sales and RescueLink shipping. A display is optional.
- Grow in stages and let yes rates and repeat orders decide when to expand.
The service in six moves.
Each move links to its own guide.
Find candidates
Add a symptom question at check-in so existing patients stop slipping through undiagnosed.
Confirm and treat
Symptom form, point-of-care tests and a treatment decision before the patient leaves the chair.
Assign an owner
A staff lead runs the routine, the in-office stock and the follow-up.
Grow in stages
Start small, prove demand, then add testing, procedures and inventory as volume builds.
Supply the patient
Hold steady sellers in the office, ship the rest, and add a display only when traffic supports it.
Know the numbers
What a treated patient spends, what the practice keeps, and how kept patients compound.
Two channels, plus an optional display.
How products reach patients, and what the practice earns on each path.
| Channel | Strength | What belongs here | Practice share |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-office sales at wholesale | Highest per-item margin; the patient leaves with the product | Steady sellers across drops, lid care, heat and nutrition | Your wholesale-to-retail spread |
| RescueLink | Nothing held in inventory; automatic refills keep repeat orders tied to your practice | Specialty items, larger sizes and every repeat refill | A 15% participation credit on eligible OTC orders |
| Product display (optional) | Visibility and self-serve sales in busier offices | A focused set of steady sellers | Your spread on what sells from the display |
Set the mix to your own patient volume and goals.
Every guide in the Practice Playbook.
From the first screened patient to a staffed service with two product channels.
Getting startedStarting a Dry Eye Service
A low-cost launch: screen, treat and prove the model on 50 booked patients.
Open the guide ›
WorkflowThe Dry Eye Exam Workflow
Screen, measure, decide, send: the routine the rest depends on.
Open the guide ›
StaffingYour Dry Eye Staff Lead
Who owns the service, what they track and how to set them up.
Open the guide ›ScalingGrowing a Dry Eye Center in Stages
From a screening habit to procedures, matched to volume.
Open the guide ›InventoryStock in Office or Ship to the Patient
A decision rule that keeps slow sellers off your shelf.
Open the guide ›
RefillsPatient Auto-Reorder and Compliance
Automatic refills that keep patients on their routine.
Open the guide ›
KitsCustom Patient Kits
Saved RescueLink bundles any team member can send.
Open the guide ›
EconomicsProcedure Economics and Reimbursement
Patient spend, practice share and common billing codes.
Open the guide ›EconomicsDry Eye Service Economics Over Five Years
An illustration of how kept patients compound.
Open the guide ›
ProtocolTest and Restore Dry Eye Kit
Test, rinse and clean in one visit with no equipment.
Open the guide ›A treated dry eye patient keeps buying. A sample routine of a lipid drop, eyelid spray, omega, heat compress and overnight ointment comes to about $1,148 a year at VisionRescue.com list prices. Patients who stay on that routine are what build a service over time.
RescueLink
Send the rest home with the patient.
Text or email each patient the exact products you recommend. They check out in one tap on VisionRescue.com, refills can repeat automatically, and your practice receives a 15% participation credit on eligible OTC orders. Contact lenses and Rx products are excluded.
- Free to activate, no subscription
- Patients check out in one tap
- Automatic refills on daily items
- Your recommendation, your patient
Doctor questions about the Practice Playbook
How is this different from the Product Playbook?
The Product Playbook covers what to recommend, organized by mechanism and patient fit. The Practice Playbook covers how to run the service: routine, staffing, inventory and economics.
Where should I begin?
With a symptom question at check-in and one consistent exam routine on your next 50 patients. Prove the model before spending on more.
Do I need to hire?
Usually not. Give an existing technician or assistant ownership as staff lead, with blocked time for the work.
How much inventory is required?
Less than most expect. Hold a handful of steady sellers and ship everything else through RescueLink.
Is a product display required?
No. It is an option for busier offices with someone to keep it stocked.
What does RescueLink pay the practice?
A 15% participation credit on eligible OTC orders placed on VisionRescue.com, with no setup fee, monthly fee or minimum. Contact lenses and Rx products are excluded.
Are the economic figures guaranteed?
No. They illustrate list prices and stated assumptions. Use the earnings example to run your own numbers.
References
- Stapleton F, Alves M, Bunya VY, et al. TFOS DEWS II Epidemiology Report. Ocul Surf. 2017;15(3):334-365. PubMed
About this guide
Prepared for licensed eye care practices by Vision Rescue. Reach the provider team at providers@visionrescue.com or 1-855-692-8024.
Notes and disclosures
Economic figures illustrate VisionRescue.com list prices and stated assumptions; they are not a guarantee of results or financial, tax, legal or billing advice. Treatment decisions belong to the examining doctor. Vision Rescue is a licensed pharmaceutical wholesale distributor of medical supplies and OTC eye care products.
Run the service, not just the shelf.
Order in-office products at wholesale, and let RescueLink deliver everything else.