Power Hour Optometry

There's a moment in every specialty service conversation where the patient either leans in or checks out. And in dry eye, that moment usually has very little to do with the machine. It has to do with whether the patient understands what the doctor sees, why it matters, and what happens if they do nothing. That's where this week's Power Hour with Dr. Todd Cohan, Owner of Midwest Dry Eye Center and Forsight Vision, LTD, gets especially practical. Todd has built a medically focused practice where dry eye, myopia management, aesthetics, retinal testing, and comprehensive care are not treated as side offerings. They are part of the practice philosophy. And that philosophy has helped his team consistently produce some of the strongest revenue-per-patient numbers we've discussed on the show, consistently producing numbers in the high $800s, $900s, and even over $1,100 per patient across multiple doctors. But the episode is not about chasing a number. It's about the behaviors that create the number. Because if a patient walks out without understanding the finding, the recommendation, or the reason behind the next step, the treatment conversation is already on shaky ground.

Some practices are built from scratch; others are inherited. While both come with challenges, inheriting a practice brings a unique responsibility: preserving what made it successful while finding the courage to evolve it for the future. In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene sits down with Dr. Luke Small, a third-generation optometrist and Owner of Armstrong & Small Eye Care Centre, one of the oldest optometry practices in Canada, with a history spanning more than 110 years. Luke's grandfather helped shape the profession in its early days. His father expanded the practice into a standalone eye care center and embraced technology long before most practices considered it. Today, Luke is leading the next chapter, modernizing the business through medical eye care, advanced technology, a second location, and a culture-first approach to patient experience. This is a conversation about growth, leadership, and what happens when the doctor everyone wants to see must begin transforming into the CEO the practice needs.

EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY: Be the first to get the book, "The Eyecare BOSS," by Eugene Shatsman & Jamie Rosin → https://eyecareboss.com/ When practice owners are asked about their biggest challenge, the answer is usually the same: People. Because when your team is aligned, accountable, and operating at a high level, growth feels possible. New ideas get implemented. Patients have a better experience. The business moves forward. But when the team is burned out, inconsistent, or resistant to change, even small improvements can feel difficult to execute. That's exactly why People is one of the foundational pillars of the Eyecare BOSS (Business Optimization & Scalability System). In order to scale and optimize a practice, you need the right people in the right seats, operating with clear expectations, shared rules of engagement, and accountability across the organization. The People System is designed to help practices build that structure intentionally — creating systems that consistently develop stronger teams, stronger culture, and better execution over time. Because when culture depends entirely on one or two people holding everything together, growth eventually stalls. This episode is the first in a five-part Eyecare BOSS series, where Jamie Rosin and Eugene break down the systems behind building a more scalable, optimized practice.

Membership plans are starting to move from an interesting idea to something practices genuinely need to understand. In this episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Cody Tomasik, Founder and CEO of DirectOD, a platform built within real optometry practices to solve the frustrations of vision plans, low reimbursements, and cash-pay patient retention. What makes this conversation critical is the shift it represents: moving away from third-party entities that dictate your revenue flow toward a direct, one-to-one relationship with your patients through customizable benefits. And as Cody explains, when you cut out the middleman, the math becomes incredibly compelling for any practice owner.

As the economics of practice ownership evolve, technology accelerates, and legislative conversations become more complex, who is shaping the future of optometry behind the scenes? And what decisions are being made right now that could impact your practice next year? In this episode of Power Hour, recorded live from the AOA Leaders Summit in St. Louis, Eugene Shatsman sits down with three of the American Optometric Association's elected leaders: Dr. Jacqueline M. Bowen (President), Dr. Teri K. Geist (President-Elect), and Dr. Terri A. Gossard (Vice President). Together, they offer a firsthand look into what these leaders believe are the profession's biggest pressure points, and what they say the AOA is doing to protect, expand, and advance optometry heading into 2026.

What if the biggest story in vision care right now isn't a new product, but a shift in patient behavior that could reshape 2026? Today's episode is a little different (in the best way) because we're recording live from The Vision Council's Executive Summit. This is a conference filled with CEOs, founders, and eye care industry leaders who are here to network, but more importantly, to answer one big question: What is actually happening in our industry right now, and what do we do next? Joining Eugene on the show are Ashley Mills (CEO) and Alysse Henkel (VP of Research & Insights) from The Vision Council, and they're bringing something every practice owner should pay attention to: the data behind 2025. Together, they break down what the data is revealing about patient spending, category performance, and the trade-offs consumers are making, and connect it to what practice owners should be thinking about for 2026. You'll also get a preview as to what's changing at Vision Expo Orlando 2026, and why the show is being designed to deliver more than excitement, it's being designed to deliver results.

Going from one location to two sounds exciting… until it's not. The truth is, scaling a practice brings on a completely different level of complexity than just more patients or an increase in revenue; it's new operational pressure points, and a whole new set of problems that don't show up until you're already in motion. In this listener-requested episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman speaks with two highly qualified professionals (Dr. Susan Lake, Optometrist at Eyecare Specialties, and Kevin Whaley-Stefany, Business Consultant at Autograph Eye LLC) who actually built and scaled multiple practices, and what it takes to succeed and scale in today's market.

In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Gary Gerber to explore why growth stalls when practices run on autopilot — and how revisiting the basics can unlock revenue, efficiency, and sustainability without adding complexity.