Jul 7, 2026 · 38 min · 12 segments
In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo sits down with Dr. Shannon Joseph for a conversation about one of the most overlooked revenue opportunities in eye care — the contact lens dropout. Steve and Shannon…
Steve VargoHost
So I'm really looking forward to this conversation, and we're going to talk about something today that I think is somewhat unfortunate.
I think we tend to look at this with a bit of a negative perception, but what I'd like to do today is reframe it because I truly believe that the thing we're going to talk about today— potentially one of the the biggest opportunities in eye care practices and that is reengaging contact lens dropouts and when we look at that market we know contact lens patients spend more they come back more frequently they're more loyal to the practice and And something we're going to get into today, I think a lot of times it just starts with having the conversation, finding out what happened and are you still interested in wearing contacts and how can we make that happen? And before we get into that discussion and the how around that, I would like to first ask you about the why.
And when you look at your patient base, How significant is the contact lens dropout problem for you? And do most practice owners even realize how many of those patients are, I'll call them opportunities, are sitting in the chair right in front of them?
And a lot of times you would think, I wouldn't be in practice, so I wouldn't see these opportunities, but thankfully I'm still in clinic several days a week.
So it's a really easy conversation basically that I have with my own team and with my patients because I see it myself.
So every day I'm very active in making sure to ask the questions like optometrists are the nicest people.
We know what dog they have, how many kids they have, where they're traveling.
But I think sometimes we do forget just the basics because we assume our patients are going to tell us.
And then like, oh, how is the weather outside or what are your plans and for the weekend? And we actually just forget some things that patients are not going to complain.
And they're definitely not going to talk about things that they did in the past.
So I'm really looking forward to this conversation, and we're going to talk about something today that I think is somewhat unfortunate.
I think we tend to look at this with a bit of a negative perception, but what I'd like to do today is reframe it because I truly believe that the thing we're going to talk about today— potentially one of the the biggest opportunities in eye care practices and that is reengaging contact lens dropouts and when we look at that market we know contact lens patients spend more they come back more frequently they're more loyal to the practice and And something we're going to get into today, I think a lot of times it just starts with having the conversation, finding out what happened and are you still interested in wearing contacts and how can we make that happen? And before we get into that discussion and the how around that, I would like to first ask you about the why.
And when you look at your patient base, How significant is the contact lens dropout problem for you? And do most practice owners even realize how many of those patients are, I'll call them opportunities, are sitting in the chair right in front of them?
And a lot of times you would think, I wouldn't be in practice, so I wouldn't see these opportunities, but thankfully I'm still in clinic several days a week.
So it's a really easy conversation basically that I have with my own team and with my patients because I see it myself.
So every day I'm very active in making sure to ask the questions like optometrists are the nicest people.
We know what dog they have, how many kids they have, where they're traveling.
But I think sometimes we do forget just the basics because we assume our patients are going to tell us.
And then like, oh, how is the weather outside or what are your plans and for the weekend? And we actually just forget some things that patients are not going to complain.
And they're definitely not going to talk about things that they did in the past.
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