How Focal Optometry Achieved 37.8% Revenue Growth Through Virtual Assistants

The Foundation for Growth

When Dr. Allen Chung founded Focal Optometry in San Diego in 2020, he brought with him not only his Doctorate from the Southern California College of Optometry but also extensive clinical experience from prestigious institutions including the San Diego Naval Hospital, Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital in Arizona, and the University Eye Center in Los Angeles. His vision extended beyond providing exceptional eye care – he aimed to create a practice that would serve as a cornerstone of health and wellness in his community.

From its inception, Focal Optometry offered comprehensive services ranging from routine eye examinations to specialized treatments for conditions like diabetic retinopathy and myopia. The practice quickly established itself as a trusted healthcare provider in San Diego, offering innovative solutions like membership plans to ensure care accessibility regardless of insurance status.

The Challenge: Balancing Growth with Resources

By 2023, Focal Optometry had built a strong reputation in the San Diego community. However, like many healthcare practices across the United States, the practice faced significant operational challenges. The growing patient base and expanding service offerings created increasing demands on staff time and resources. Administrative tasks, insurance verifications, and patient communications began consuming more time that could have been spent on direct patient care.
The challenge wasn’t unique to Focal Optometry – practices nationwide deal with similar staffing and operational hurdles. Dr. Chung explored various solutions, including traditional hiring and experimenting with other virtual staffing services, but these initial attempts didn’t deliver the desired results.

Finding the Right Solution

After several unsuccessful attempts with other virtual staffing services, Dr. Chung remained open to solutions that could help his practice operate more efficiently. In his own words: “I signed on with Teem in December 2023 and found some amazing VAs which definitely contributed to 2024 growth.”

The partnership began with a careful assessment of the practice’s needs and gradually implemented virtual support where it would have the most impact. This methodical approach ensured that each virtual team member could integrate effectively into the practice’s operations while maintaining high standards of patient care.

Implementation and Integration

The transformation at Focal Optometry didn’t happen overnight. It began with identifying key areas where virtual support could make the most significant impact: patient communications, administrative tasks, and clinical documentation. The practice started with essential support and scaled its virtual team based on demonstrated success and growing needs.

Today, the practice’s virtual team handles a wide range of crucial tasks. As Dr. Chung explains: “I currently have one front desk and one scribe VA handling everything from answering phones and managing schedules to scribing for the doctors and managing insurance preparation for my opticians.”

What sets these virtual assistants apart is their ability to handle tasks with the accuracy and efficiency that only real human support can provide. Unlike AI-based services, these skilled professionals bring human judgment, adaptability, and personalized attention to each interaction, ensuring that both administrative and clinical tasks are handled with the highest level of care and precision.

Dr. Chung estimates that his Virtual Scribe alone saves his team 15-20 hours per week at the very least – time that can now be redirected toward providing exceptional patient care and growing the practice.

Measuring Success: A Year of Transformation

The impact of this strategic staffing solution became evident through remarkable improvements across all key performance indicators during 2024. The practice’s ability to serve patients more efficiently while maintaining high-quality care led to unprecedented growth.

Financial Growth and Sustainability

The numbers tell a compelling story of transformation. The practice’s total revenue grew by 37.8% in 2024, more than double the previous year’s growth rate of 18.1%. This acceleration demonstrates how removing operational bottlenecks through effective staffing can unlock a practice’s full potential.
Even more remarkable was the impact on service-related revenue, which increased from $322,822 in 2023 to $530,227 in 2024. This represents a 77.5% growth in service-related income. The improvement illustrates how proper support staff can enable a practice to maximize its service delivery and revenue potential.
Note: All financial data was provided by Refractional CFO, a firm specializing in accounting services for optometry and ophthalmology practices, with authorization from Focal Optometry.

Return on Investment

The financial benefits extended well beyond top-line growth. With a gross margin of 76.5%, the virtual team’s impact on margin reached $158,621. When compared to the investment in virtual support, the practice realized a 248% return on investment – generating $2.48 in profit for every dollar invested in virtual staffing.

Enhanced Patient Care and Practice Growth

The practice’s growth wasn’t limited to financial metrics. Total patient exams increased by 20.7% in 2024, compared to 18.1% growth in 2023. New patient growth saw an even more dramatic improvement, jumping from 2.0% in 2023 to 15.3% in 2024.

A key factor in this impressive new patient growth was the dedicated front desk virtual assistant who ensured that every incoming call was answered promptly and professionally. No missed calls meant no missed opportunities to welcome new patients to the practice. With consistent, attentive phone coverage, potential patients received immediate assistance with their inquiries and appointment scheduling, creating a positive first impression that converted more callers into actual patients.

Building a Foundation for Future Success

Focal Optometry’s experience offers valuable insights for other optometry practices facing similar challenges. Their success demonstrates that with the right virtual staffing partner, practices can achieve significant growth while maintaining high standards of patient care – whether starting with a single virtual assistant or building a more comprehensive support team over time.

The key lies not in the number of virtual staff members, but in implementing the right support system that addresses each practice’s unique needs. By starting with essential support and scaling based on results, practices can create a sustainable model for growth that maintains operational efficiency and enhances patient care.

Conclusion: A Blueprint for Practice Growth

The transformation at Focal Optometry represents more than just impressive numbers – it demonstrates how modern optometry practices can adapt and thrive in today’s challenging healthcare environment. By embracing innovative staffing solutions, practices can overcome operational hurdles while improving patient care and financial performance.

For optometry practices looking to overcome staffing challenges and accelerate growth, Focal Optometry’s journey provides valuable insights into the potential of virtual staffing solutions. Their experience shows that with the right partner, practices can build a more efficient, profitable, and patient-focused future – starting with whatever level of support best suits their current needs and growing from there.

The success of Focal Optometry proves that the future of healthcare staffing isn’t about replacing traditional roles – it’s about enhancing practice capabilities through strategic support that enables growth, improves efficiency, and ultimately leads to better patient care.