The top solution for optometrists, 37 years in the making

In the early 1980s, John Stein was increasingly frustrated. Instead of being able to concentrate on his patients' visual problems, he found himself calculator-in-hand, poring over price lists and Bills Bible, working out appliance prices (with GST) and professional service fees (without). Medical aid quirks compounded the problems. Not only was this time-consuming, but with patients hovering impatiently nearby, it was easy to make mistakes.

These frustrations lead John to team up with Henry Epstein, then MD of MicroData Services. Together, they spent the next year developing specialised software for optometrists. Their goals were that it be locally produced and supported, operate on standard computers, and be affordable to all optometrists—even those in smaller practices. Those goals continue to guide OptiMax almost three decades later.