The Lumen Room
The only room in optometry where independent practice owners talk to each other honestly, without anyone in the room selling them anything.
Every member is a verified owner. No vendors, no alliances, no consultants, no sponsors. Just the people who have the same decisions in front of them that you do, talking plainly.
Why it exists
Every hard question has an answer. Everyone you can ask has something riding on it.
What should an associate make. Is this EHR worth the switch. What did the LOI actually say. The people you can put that to are good at what they do, and none of them are neutral.
- Your consultant
- Paid by the hour to have an opinion
- Your alliance
- Paid by the vendors it recommends
- Your rep
- Paid when you buy
- Your broker
- Paid when you sell
- Another owner
- Nothing riding on it
Lumen is a room full of the last one.
What's in the room
Real numbers, real reviews, and owners who have already done what you're about to do.
Comparisons
Put in your number, see where you stand against verified owners. Associate pay, staff wages, exam fees, optical. The numbers nobody says out loud.
Reviews
Before you sign with an EHR, a lab or a processor, read what owners who use it would tell you over dinner. Written by owners, never by the company.
Members
Find the owners whose practice looks like yours, see what they've shared, and send them a note.
Questions
Ask what you can't put to your staff, your spouse or your CPA, and get a straight answer from an owner who has lived it.
Roundtables
Eight owners, one hour, one topic, real numbers on the table. What you really pay yourself, what the LOI said, which vendor you regret. The topics no conference will touch, because every conference has a sponsor.
How you get in
Verified, then welcomed. It takes a few days, on purpose.
Ask to join
Your name, your practice, your state. A person reads it, not a form.
We verify you
Your license is checked against your state board, and we confirm you own the practice. This is what keeps the room what it is.
You bring something in
Tell the room about your practice and, when you're ready, write two honest reviews of products you actually use. Everyone in the room has done the same.
You're in
The numbers, the reviews, the members and the conversations open up. Free for founding members.
The rules of the room
Nobody in the room needs you to decide a certain way.
- Lumen takes no money from vendors, alliances, consultants or sponsors.
- No one who sells to practices is a member, under any title.
- Your numbers are never shown to anyone, inside the room or out.
- Reviews are not edited, softened or removed at a company's request.
Ask to join
If you own an independent practice, there's a seat for you.
A person reads this and emails you within two days.