An AI front desk for optometry practices
How an optometry practice uses an AI front desk for exam and contact lens bookings, vision plan questions, glasses pickups and recalls, with sudden vision changes treated as emergencies for a person.
Frontiva · · 3 min read
An optometry practice's AI front desk books comprehensive exams and contact lens fittings at the right length, answers "do you take my vision plan" from your list, takes contact lens reorders when the prescription is current, sends the text when glasses are ready, and runs annual recalls. It does not interpret symptoms. Sudden vision loss, flashes and floaters, eye injury, chemical exposure or severe pain are escalated to a person before any reply is generated.
The mix of calls at an optometry desk
Exam bookings, insurance questions, contact reorders, "are my glasses in", frame adjustments, and the occasional patient describing something that cannot wait. The first five are routine and high-volume, and they are what the AI takes. The sixth is rare and urgent, and it is what the AI is built to recognise and hand off.
Exams and fittings
"I need an eye exam and I have VSP" gets a yes from your plan list, the new-or-existing question, and real slots with the doctor for a 45-minute comprehensive exam. A contact lens fitting is booked at its own length. New patients get the forms link in the confirmation, and the plan name and member ID are captured for your team to verify.
Contact lens reorders
The AI checks whether the prescription on record is current. If it is, the order is captured for your team to fill and the patient is told when to expect it. If it has expired, the AI says so and books an exam. It does not extend a prescription or guess at one.
Glasses ready and adjustments
When frames arrive, the patient gets a text, and a quick pickup slot can be booked in the same thread. Adjustment requests are booked as short visits. Warranty and remake questions are answered from your policy.
Recalls
Annual exam reminders go out on your schedule and the booking happens in the reply. A recall that gets a booking in the same conversation is worth several that just remind.
The emergency list
Sudden loss or blurring of vision, flashes of light or a shower of floaters, an injury to the eye, chemical splash, severe pain, or a red eye with vision change. These match before the AI generates a reply. The patient gets your approved wording (call the practice now, or go to urgent care or the emergency department if the practice is closed), and a person is alerted.
What it does not do
Say what a plan covers or what the patient will pay. Interpret a symptom. Change or extend a prescription. Reassure a patient who describes a change in vision. Load the wording for each handoff so it sounds like your practice.
Frequently asked questions
Can it take a contact lens order?
It can confirm the prescription is current from your records, capture the order for your team, and book an exam if the prescription has expired.
Does it know which vision plans we accept?
From the list you keep in Knowledge. A plan not on the list is captured as a question for your team, not confirmed.
What happens if a patient says their vision suddenly went blurry?
A fixed escalation runs before any reply. The patient gets your emergency wording and a person is alerted immediately.
What Frontiva does here
The optometry page shows the workflows. In Frontiva the sensitive-topic guardrail and the escalation keywords you set hand a conversation to a person before any answer is attempted (AI agents), exams and fittings are booked on your public booking page at their own lengths, and SMS reminders go to patients who agreed. For how escalation works, see when an AI receptionist should hand off.