Optical capture rate

Definition

The share of exam patients who buy their eyewear in the practice's own dispensary, the second engine.

Why It Matters

The optical is a retail business bolted to a clinic, and capture is what decides whether it runs. Compute it from the practice management system as eyewear sales divided by refractive exams over a year, then read it by doctor and by payer. A vision plan that steers members to its own lab lowers the rate through no fault of the staff. A practice that refers its eyewear elsewhere is leaving the second engine idle, and lifting capture after closing is the cheapest growth in the trade because the patient is already in the chair.