Software for opening a new optometry practice, set up before your first patient

A new optometry practice needs more than a collection of software features. It needs a dependable way for someone to book an appointment, provide information, arrive at the right office, complete a visit, select optical products when appropriate and understand the next step. Before choosing software, write that journey in ordinary language. Identify the person responsible for each handoff and the record that tells the next person what has happened. This becomes your opening-day specification.

Jelo combines EHR, scheduling, patient CRM, optical POS, inventory and billing records. Its value for a new practice should be evaluated across those connections. Begin with the smallest complete visit your opening team must operate. Add more complicated examples after the basic journey is understood. Record what is included, what needs configuration and what depends on an outside account. An opening plan is much easier to manage when those three categories are visible from the beginning.

A useful requirement describes an observable result. “Easy scheduling” expresses a preference; “our front-desk employee can move a fictional appointment to another available slot and confirm the correct provider and office” describes a test. The second version gives your team something to observe in a demo and repeat during training. Apply the same approach to chart access, intake, optical orders, payments and follow-up.

For each requirement, record five things: the staff role, the task, the expected result, the evidence and the owner of any follow-up. Evidence might be a demonstrated screen, a sample export, a written scope statement or an account-specific test. Keep unanswered items visible. A vendor saying that a category is supported is a starting point, while showing your required configuration is stronger evidence. The software evaluation worksheet provides a place to organize those observations.

Appointment setup determines how work reaches the practice. Decide which appointment types you intend to offer, which providers perform them, how staff will distinguish locations and how patients will receive practical instructions. These are practice decisions. A software calendar can represent the decisions, but it cannot choose the right operating model for your team. Ask the people answering the phone to review the terminology before it becomes part of the daily workflow.

Then review intake. Jelo supports patient intake and a configurable general-intake builder. Authorized staff can adjust supported questions, visibility, order and required responses. Start with the information your team actually uses. For every required answer, identify who reviews it and what happens when a patient cannot supply it. A form that is technically complete can still require a conversation; completion should not be mistaken for clinical reconciliation.

The clinician should participate in choosing and configuring examination templates. Jelo offers customizable exam templates and role-controlled clinical workflows. The practical evaluation is whether the structure supports the clinician’s documentation process and makes relevant information understandable to another authorized person. Template flexibility is useful when it helps the team document the actual encounter clearly; the number of customizable fields is not a meaningful result on its own.

Use a fictional encounter to review the sequence from patient selection to final review. Ask the clinician to explain where history is reviewed, where findings belong and how the record is checked before finalization. Keep configuration questions separate from clinical decisions. A template does not establish which tests are necessary, determine a diagnosis or prove that a service can be billed. Those responsibilities stay with the appropriate clinical and billing professionals.

If the practice will dispense eyewear, create an inventory plan before treating the catalog as ready to sell. The catalog describes products; stock quantities describe what is physically available. A frame’s model, color and size matter because similar-looking items can represent different variants. A demonstration should show how your team identifies the exact variant and how that identification connects to the item selected for an order.

Jelo’s inventory workflows distinguish product information and quantities, and its multi-location functionality supports authorized stock transfers between configured offices. For a new single-location practice, the immediate priority is a reliable starting position. Test one normal sale and one correction with fictional data. Confirm which action changes the order, which changes the stock record and which requires a separate financial action. The inventory counting guide explains how to organize that review.

Jelo’s VisionWeb integration launched in September 2026. The connection uses the practice’s VisionWeb account and the labs and catalog options associated with that account. A general integration label is not enough to establish that your intended supplier, lens configuration or ordering process is ready. Put the actual lab names and required order types on your implementation checklist and review them with the team.

Treat an optical order as several related records. There is the patient-facing retail order, the prescription and measurements used to prepare it, the lab submission and the response from the lab. A payment status does not establish that a lab accepted an order. Similarly, an order sent to a lab does not prove that the patient has paid. Staff should know which record answers each question and who handles a discrepancy.

Jelo’s platform costs $300 per month per location or $3,000 per year per location, paid upfront. Each paid location includes unlimited doctors and staff. A one-location practice therefore budgets for one platform subscription even when several people use it. A second paid location adds another subscription. Keep that subscription line separate from hardware, connectivity and other costs in the opening budget so that comparisons remain understandable.

Review the payment collection workflow before opening. Confirm account readiness, payout settings and supported hardware, then use fictional data to distinguish a completed payment from a pending link or an outstanding order balance.

Insurance and payer services are handled by Jelo's AI biller, which is live. Jelo charges 10% of insurance reimbursements received for the AI biller, separately from the platform subscription. No billing fee is charged for denied claims that receive no reimbursement. The pricing page brings the confirmed rates together, while the startup budget tool lets you add your own estimates for costs that Jelo does not set.

Software readiness and payer readiness are different milestones. If the practice intends to work with insurance, list the exact payers, locations, providers and transaction needs to review with Jelo's billing team. Confirm enrollment requirements and the information the practice must provide. Do not infer coverage for an individual payer from a broad statement that a service handles vision or medical insurance.

Assign someone in the practice to keep those dependencies visible. A useful record includes the payer or account, the required step, the person responsible, the current status and the evidence that the step is complete. The purpose is coordination. It is not a prediction of enrollment timing or a guarantee that a claim will be paid. Clinical documentation, payer policy and the actual circumstances of a claim still matter.

A training attendance list tells you who joined a session. It does not show who can perform a task. Build short role-specific exercises instead. A front-desk employee can demonstrate finding the right appointment and intake. An optician can identify a frame variant and review an order balance. A clinician can demonstrate the documentation and review workflow. A person handling finances can explain the difference between a recorded payment and a processor payout.

Platform setup takes 3–4 calendar days for a single location and no more than 7 calendar days for multiple locations. Confirm the start date and prerequisites with Jelo during your workflow review. For a practice with no historical records, the migration work may be limited, but setup and outside dependencies still need attention. Choose the opening date based on the combined readiness of the practice, not solely on a software estimate.

Run an opening rehearsal with a fictional patient and clearly marked sample transactions. Start where a real patient would start: a booking or an inquiry. Follow the information through intake, staff review, the examination workflow, optical ordering where relevant, payment status and billing follow-up. Ask each person to identify the record they rely on before handing the work to the next role.

Finish with a written acceptance list. Mark each requirement as demonstrated, needing configuration, awaiting an outside dependency or still unanswered. Decide which unresolved items prevent opening and which can be handled through an agreed temporary process. Keep the decision with the appropriate practice leaders. A complete-looking calendar is not a substitute for a team that can find records, explain payment status and resolve a handoff.

Jelo is HIPAA compliant, offers a Business Associate Agreement and maintains BAAs with its providers. Its database is encrypted and backed up automatically every day. During onboarding, review the agreement and configure staff permissions for the work each person needs to perform. More detailed requirements, such as export format or a specific recovery objective, should be answered explicitly rather than inferred from a general security statement.

Jelo offers data exports for your own analytics and assistance if you need to move to another system. Cancellation is free. The treatment of prepaid fees and charges already incurred belongs in the applicable agreement; free cancellation should not be expanded into an unconfirmed promise of annual proration. Ask how an export will be scoped and how the receiving system will be checked before you close access.