50 Tasks an Optometry Virtual Assistant Can Take Off Your Plate

The most common question we get isn't philosophical. It's "okay, but what would this person actually do all day?" Fair. Here are fifty answers, pulled from real role descriptions in working optometry practices, organized by function. No single assistant does all fifty — a full-time role is usually built from two or three of these categories — but every item on this list is being done remotely, today, in practices like yours.

Phones and scheduling (1–10)

1. Answer inbound calls during business hours, including lunch coverage
2. Book, reschedule, and cancel appointments in your PM system's templates
3. Run confirmation calls and texts one to two days ahead
4. Work the waitlist to backfill same-day cancellations
5. Return voicemails within the hour
6. Handle "where are my glasses/contacts" status calls after checking the lab or order status
7. Route clinical questions to your techs or doctors per your written protocol
8. Take detailed messages that actually contain the callback number
9. Schedule follow-ups ordered at yesterday's visits that didn't get booked at checkout
10. Answer basic questions — hours, location, insurance accepted, contact lens pricing

Insurance and verification (11–20)

11. Verify vision plan eligibility (VSP, EyeMed, Spectera and the rest) for tomorrow's schedule
12. Verify medical insurance for medical-visit patients
13. Note plan benefits — exam copay, materials allowance, contact lens fitting coverage — in the chart before the visit
14. Flag patients whose requested service isn't covered so checkout isn't a surprise
15. Obtain and track prior authorizations for medical services
16. Check claim status on submitted claims
17. Maintain the practice's payer login credentials and portal access list
18. Handle coordination-of-benefits questions between vision and medical plans
19. Update patient insurance records at recall time, before the visit
20. Prepare the daily "verification exceptions" list for the office manager

Recall, retention, and reactivation (21–28)

21. Work the daily recall list — patients due for annual exams — by call and text
22. Run reactivation outreach to patients 18+ months overdue
23. Send and track contact lens reorder reminders based on supply purchased
24. Call patients with expiring contact lens prescriptions to book their fitting
25. Follow up on unfilled spectacle prescriptions from the last 30 days
26. Manage the "due for medical follow-up" list — glaucoma checks, diabetic exams, dry eye reassessments
27. Rebook no-shows the same day with a friendly, non-punitive script
28. Track recall conversion numbers weekly so you can see the needle move

Optical and contact lens support (29–35)

29. Call patients when glasses and contacts arrive
30. Process contact lens orders and reorders in your ordering platform
31. Coordinate remakes and warranty claims with the lab
32. Track job status and chase overdue lab orders before the patient has to ask
33. Manage online contact lens sales channel orders, if you run one
34. Send post-dispense check-in messages ("how are the new progressives treating you?")
35. Keep the optical order log clean and current

Billing support (36–43)

36. Scrub and submit daily claims to vision and medical payers
37. Post insurance and patient payments
38. Work the denial queue and file corrected claims and appeals
39. Follow up on aging AR by payer and by patient
40. Send patient statements and take payment calls
41. Reconcile EOBs against postings
42. Prepare the weekly billing summary for the owner or manager
43. Maintain fee schedules and flag payer underpayments

Records and administrative (44–50)

44. Process incoming and outgoing records requests
45. Enter new-patient paperwork and demographic updates into the chart
46. Process referrals in and out, including comanagement letters
47. Manage the shared inbox — faxes, portal messages, general email
48. Keep provider credentialing paperwork (CAQH and payer re-attestations) current
49. Order office and clinical supplies against your par levels
50. Maintain and update the practice's written front-office procedures as they evolve

How to use this list

Don't hand someone the whole thing. Print it, circle what your practice currently does inconsistently or not at all, and group the circles: they'll cluster into a phones-and-scheduling role, a verification-and-billing role, or a recall-and-retention role. That cluster is your job description, and the hours it represents are your business case. Our step-by-step hiring guide picks up from exactly that point.

And if you circled more than twenty items — which happens more often than you'd think — that's not a sign you need a superhuman VA. It's a sign the desk work in your practice outgrew the desk a while ago, and it's carrying quiet costs in missed recalls and tired staff every week you leave it unbundled.