The monthly scheme spreadsheet
Your contact lens scheme is a good arrangement for everyone. The wearer pays monthly by direct debit, receives lenses on a schedule and has aftercare appointments included. The practice gets regular income and loyal patients. Behind the scenes, though, it runs on a spreadsheet: who is on which scheme, when their lenses were last sent, when their next supply is due, whether this month's payment arrived.
When a direct debit fails, the provider sends an email. When a wearer changes lens type after an aftercare, someone has to update the scheme price and the supply. When lenses are posted, someone packs them and notes it. Each step is simple. Together they make a part-time job.
Why the scheme drifts out of step
- Payments run in a direct debit provider such as GoCardless, separate from the practice system.
- Lens orders to the supplier are placed by hand, per wearer or in a weekly batch.
- Scheme price and lens type are not linked, so a change in lenses may not change the payment.
- Failed payments are noticed late, after lenses have been sent.
- Aftercare dates live in the practice system, not alongside the scheme, so supply can continue past a lapsed aftercare.
What the drift costs
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Failed payment not noticed | Lenses supplied without payment |
| Lens change not reflected in price | Undercharging or overcharging |
| Manual ordering | Staff time and occasional missed supplies |
| Aftercare lapsed | Supply decisions made without an up-to-date check, against your own policy |
| Scheme data in a spreadsheet | No view of scheme size, churn or margin |
How we connect the scheme
- Each scheme is defined with its lens products, supply frequency, price and what is included, as your practice sets it.
- Each wearer's scheme record links to their patient record, their current contact lens specification and their aftercare due date from your practice system.
- Payment events from GoCardless or your provider update the wearer's status automatically: paid, failed, cancelled.
- Failed payments trigger a polite message to the wearer and a prompt to staff, and the next supply is held until your rules say it can go.
- Supplies due are compiled into a list or an order file for your supplier, checked against paid status and a current aftercare as your policy requires. Anything that fails a check goes to a person.
- When the optometrist changes a wearer's lenses, the scheme is updated and the price change is flagged for staff to confirm with the wearer.
- A monthly report shows scheme members, joiners, leavers and payment problems.
What your practice requires before supplying contact lenses is your professional and regulatory decision. The system applies the checks you set; it does not decide them.
A scheme that runs on rails
Payments, supply and aftercare are finally in one view. Failed payments are handled before lenses go out. Supplies are ordered from a checked list rather than from memory. Lens changes update the scheme instead of creating a mismatch. And the owner can see how the scheme is doing without opening a spreadsheet.
Wearers notice fewer mistakes too: the right lenses, on time, with a clear message if anything needs sorting.
Growing the scheme becomes easier as well. When joining is a short online form that sets up the direct debit and the supply schedule in one go, the optometrist can suggest it at the end of a fitting without handing the wearer a paper mandate to fill in at the desk.
Does this sound like your scheme?
- Your contact lens scheme runs from a spreadsheet.
- Direct debit failures are noticed after lenses have gone out.
- Lens supplies are ordered by hand for each wearer.
- Scheme prices do not always match the lenses supplied.
- You cannot quickly say how many wearers are on the scheme.