Optometry Payment Processing: 3 Ways to Save Time and Get Paid Faster

‍^{Updated Feb 11, 2026.}

This post focuses on optometry payment processing (especially contactless and online patient payments), so your team can collect more at the time of service and reduce A/R follow-up.

Getting paid faster includes more than just taking cards. Optometry practices must reduce friction at checkout, offering modern payment options, and keeping balances from aging into A/R. If your workflow requires extra steps or disconnected systems, your team spends more time chasing payments and less time serving patients.

Quick wins to get paid faster (this week):

• Collect copays/deductibles at check-in or checkout (not later)
• Offer tap-to-pay and digital wallets to speed up the line
• Use online pay links for remaining balances before statements go out
• Reduce duplicate entry by keeping payments connected to the patient record
• Reconcile frequently so balances stay accurate

Why Optometry Payments Slow Down: Common Workflow Bottlenecks

If payments feel harder than they should, it’s usually because the workflow is fragmented. Practices often see longer checkout lines, more manual entry, fewer payment options, and more balances that roll into statements and A/R.

Who this is for: This guide is for practices that want to reduce checkout bottlenecks, increase time-of-service collections, and cut down on statement follow-up. It’s particularly helpful if payments currently live outside your EHR or require duplicate entry.

Bottleneck 1: Too Many Steps at Checkout

With outdated software, you may have to invest in additional payment processing equipment to take payments from patients. You have to purchase this equipment, learn how to use it, and train new staff.

Without integration between the payment equipment and your practice management software, your staff also has to spend time manually entering payment information into the system. This can lead to a higher error rate and billing issues for patients.

This often leads to:

• Duplicate entry (higher error risk)
• Slower checkout (longer lines)
• Harder end-of-day reconciliation

Bottleneck 2: Patients Want Contactless & Online Payment Options

With outdated payment software, you have limited payment options for patients. A 2021 Trends in Healthcare Payments Annual Report found that over 50% of patients think about changing providers due to poor payment experiences, and 78% of healthcare consumers want the option to make contactless payments post pandemic.

What “contactless” means in a practice (and why patients like it): Contactless payments include tap-to-pay, digital wallets, and pay-by-link options that let patients pay without handing over a card or filling out forms at the front desk. The payoff is faster checkout, fewer awkward payment conversations, and fewer balances that turn into statements.

Patients increasingly expect the same options they use everywhere else: chip, tap-to-pay, digital wallets, and online payments. If paying is inconvenient, balances linger longer and staff time shifts from patient service to follow-up.

Bottleneck 3: Balances Slip Into A/R (and Take Longer to Collect)

Using an inconvenient payment processing system can cause you to experience interrupted cash flow and lost revenue. Without a cloud-based, integrated payment system, you bill patients after receiving services.

The Healthcare Financial Management Association reports that providers have a 30% chance of collecting patient payments once they’ve left the practice versus 70% when asking patients to settle their bills at the time of service.

Best practice: Confirm expected costs up front and collect copays/deductibles at check-in or checkout, then use online pay for any remaining balance.

A simple optometry payment workflow checklist:

1. Confirm benefits and expected patient responsibility before the visit
2. Collect at check-in/checkout (copay, deductible, known fees)
3. Make paying easy (chip/tap/digital wallet + online link)
4. Reconcile quickly so balances stay accurate
5. Follow up with online pay before sending statements

3 Payment Workflow Upgrades to Get Paid Faster (Without Adding Work)

Your practice can save time and get paid faster by using RevPayments.

85% of practices with five or fewer practitioners said slow payments are among their top collection challenges. Making payments more convenient for their patients is one of their highest demands.

RevPayments meets these goals in the following ways:

1. Keep Payments and Patient Balances in One Place

When payments and billing live in one workflow, staff can collect faster, reduce duplicate entry, and keep balances accurate. That means fewer errors, faster posting, and less time spent reconciling at the end of the day.

Your practice can use traditional credit card terminals in your office, enter information manually through the software, or set up e-payments to increase convenience for your staff and patients. All e-payments are automatically sent into the software for review by your staff before posting, improving workflow and billing efficiency.

RevPayments allows your practice to save credit card information to the patient’s record. Their card is then automatically offered as a payment option for future visits, simplifying the process further. This cloud-based software also lets you access payment and billing information from anywhere instead of being tied to your office.

2. Make Paying Easy: Contactless Checkout + Online Pay Links

RevPayments gives patients payment options. They can pay through a terminal in your office by a credit card swipe or chip, or with Apple Pay or Android Pay. With RevPayments’ manual payment feature, you can also enter payment information over the phone.

Our e-pay option adds further convenience, allowing patients to pay fees or an account balance online from the comfort of their home.

Online pay saves the most staff time when it reduces:

• Phone payments and callbacks
• Statement follow-up
• “Can you take this over the phone?” interruptions

The software stores credit card information securely for future transactions to reduce time spent on this administrative task. Your staff can spend more time caring for patients instead of processing payments. Patients benefit from not waiting in line to make a payment when their information is already on file.

It also offers superior accuracy so that you won’t face payment problems due to typos or other errors.

3. Reduce Declined Payments With Auto-Updating Card Details

Declined payments create rework: more outreach, more statements, and more aging balances. Automatically keeping card details current reduces avoidable declines and helps practices collect faster with fewer follow-ups.

Want to Compare Options? Here's What to Look For in Payments Software

If you’re evaluating optometry payment processing solutions, start with the workflow (not the rate sheet). The right platform should make it easier to collect at the time of service, reduce manual work, and keep balances accurate, without adding steps for your team.

Here are practical criteria to compare:

• Contactless and modern payment options: Tap-to-pay, chip, digital wallets, and online payment links so patients can pay the way they prefer.
• Online patient payments: Simple pay-by-link or portal payments for balances after the visit, so staff spend less time collecting by phone.
• Integrated patient balances: Payments should post to the correct patient record and invoice without duplicate entry or manual matching.
• Faster reconciliation: Clear reporting and an easier way to reconcile daily activity so your team can close out quickly and keep books accurate.
• Fewer declines and less follow-up: Tools that help reduce failed payments and cut down on statement and callback cycles.
• A better front-desk experience: A workflow that minimizes clicks and doesn’t require bouncing between systems during a busy checkout rush.

As you compare options, ask yourself one simple question: Does this solution remove steps from our day, or does it add another tool we have to manage? The best payments software makes paying feel effortless for patients and noticeably easier for your staff.

Importance of Security Built In

Patients expect payments to be fast and secure. For practices, that means protecting card data, reducing risk, and avoiding extra systems that create more logins, more training, and more points of failure. An integrated payments workflow helps because staff can take payments and manage balances inside the same platform they already use without exporting data or re-entering payment details elsewhere.

A good payments setup should also limit how often your team handles sensitive payment information. When the workflow is designed well, the system does more of the heavy lifting in the background, and your team focuses on patient service instead of troubleshooting payment steps. The result is a smoother checkout experience for patients and fewer operational headaches for staff.

If your current payments process requires jumping between tools, manual reconciliation, or frequent “workarounds,” it’s worth reassessing. Streamlining payments isn’t just about speed. It’s also about reducing complexity and keeping patient data protected while your practice scales.

RevPayments: An Integrated Solution for Optometry Payment Processing

You can solve your payment processing issues by switching to a completely integrated optometry EHR system like RevolutionEHR that uses automated billing and coding features and cloud-based syncing to simplify your collections process.

With RevPayments, you gain the following capabilities regarding payment collections for your practice:

• No need for separate, inconvenient payment processing equipment
• Flexibility in accepting multiple types of payments, including online, Apple Pay, and Android Pay
• Ability to store credit card information for future payments
• More predictable cash flow and uninterrupted revenue
• Syncing of payments to reduce manual errors

If you want to reduce checkout friction and speed up collections, the biggest gains usually come from tightening your workflow, not adding more steps. In a demo, we can walk through your current payment process and show where integrated payments in RevolutionEHR can remove manual work and help you get paid faster.

Book a demo