Optometric Receptionist job description

Every patient who reaches an optometrist has already dealt with the front desk: the call that booked the exam, the check-in, and the payment on the way out. Federal wage data do not break out optometric receptionists on their own. It counts them within receptionists and information clerks, and reports that line by industry. In offices of optometrists, 13,640 receptionists earned a median of $37,740 in May 2025. Pay in that row ranged from $29,330 at the tenth percentile to $47,330 at the ninetieth. Across every industry, receptionists had a median of $38,010, so the eye care desk pays close to the national rate for the work.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

O*NET ranks the phones first: answering, screening, and forwarding calls, taking messages, and booking appointments. Greeting each person who comes in and sending them where they need to go is next, and collecting payment and logging receipts is close behind. Keeping the schedule of appointments up to date, sending documents to patients, and settling complaints fill much of the rest. Filing, record keeping, and routine administrative support such as transcribing notes and working with invoices are also on the core list. So is keeping the waiting area in order.

Common Skills and Technologies

Speaking, active listening, and service orientation lead the skills list. The technologies employers ask for most are Microsoft Excel, Office, Outlook, and Word, and postings also name Google Docs, Intuit QuickBooks, and Microsoft Dynamics. Scheduling and medical software also appear among the categories.

Education, Training, and Career Path

O*NET puts receptionist work in Job Zone Two. The requirement respondents named most was a high school diploma, at about 50 percent, ahead of some college at about 26 percent and a postsecondary certificate at about 21 percent. A receptionist who wants to grow inside eye care has a credential path. The American Optometric Association's paraoptometric certifications include the Certified Paraoptometric and the Certified Paraoptometric Coder.

Sources: O*NET 30.0, 43-4171.00 Receptionists and Information Clerks, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-4171.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 43-4171, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. American Optometric Association, paraoptometric certification, https://www.aoa.org/education/paraoptometric-certification.