In October, 2025, an independent optometry practice in the Midwest adopted the iOR Partners Shared Office-Based Surgery (OBS) Suite model. The first procedure in the OBS suite was performed just 42 days later. In the first 8 months, the surgery suite generated about $384,000 in total surgical revenue across 85 procedures, averaging about $4,500 per case. Under a traditional co-management model, that revenue would have gone entirely to outside ophthalmology practices or surgical facilities, with the optometrist collecting only a small co-management fee per case.
In the Shared Suite model, the optometric practice partners with an experienced surgeon from iOR Partner’s established network, leases a fully equipped and accredited OBS suite, pays the surgeon a procedure fee, and retains the remaining revenue from the surgical cases performed. The suite is leased for a set amount of time, during which only the optometry practice’s patients are treated. The lease arrangement covers the facility expenses, staff, and equipment in the OBS suite, which is often (but not always) physically located within the surgical practice. The revenues, timing, and procedure volume in the case example described above are not at all unusual for this type of arrangement.
An ideal option for smaller practices
Because the lease can be for as little as one half-day per month, joining a shared suite model doesn’t require the optometry practice to have a huge volume of patients. Typically, even a smaller optometry practice can easily fill the surgeon’s schedule for a few hours per month—and if the volume is greater than expected, the lease terms can be expanded. Initially, the optometrist can began identifying surgical candidates from existing patient charts, because many of the patients in the practice’s typical population are already good candidates for OBS. Targeted outreach, such as a friends-and-family promotion, can help to drive volume quickly, if desired.
The types of surgical cases treated in the OBS suite might include a diverse range of procedures, including refractive lens exchange, corneal refractive surgery (LASIK, PRK, or SMILE), ICL phakic IOLs, and additional procedures. The question is not whether surgical care will be delivered. It is whether optometrists can retain those patients and the revenue associated with their procedures or risk losing the patient entirely when they seek out surgical care and do not return.
This model has been designed for independent optometric practices that want to enter the surgical market with no capital investment and minimal risk. iOR Partners solves the infrastructure challenges by handling accreditation, compliance, staff training, billing support, and operational oversight of the shared suite.
Who benefits?
For the optometrist, being able to share in the surgery suite profits can significantly increase revenue per case above the typical comanagement fees of $90-$120 per eye for cataract surgery and $400-$600 per LASIK patient.
For the ophthalmologist, the advantages include the ability to capitalize on patients who are already in the optometric practice. This can generate a steady stream of surgical cases, allowing the surgeon to focus on surgery, keep their schedules full, and minimize clinic follow-up time.
Finally, patients benefit, too, by having access to a comfortable, in-office setting, familiar providers they already know and trust, and typically streamlined procedures without anesthesia or long waits.In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Morbi imperdiet nibh ligula, elementum bibendum purus vulputate et. Vestibulum vitae metus vestibulum, malesuada felis a, bibendum magna. Etiam laoreet dignissim quam, at vehicula enim auctor vel. Praesent interdum eu sapien non fermentum. Sed a volutpat leo. Pellentesque id tempus metus. Nullam in justo iaculis, iaculis neque sed, imperdiet orci. Ut vestibulum leo ligula, et mollis arcu pellentesque a.
