Jing Huang, OD, had long noticed a recurring problem in the day-to-day life of optometry practices: when a regular doctor was out, finding reliable, qualified coverage was time-consuming. The process for optometry fill-in work was complicated and often inefficient. That frustration was the spark for Peared, the app she and her husband Lawrence Cheng built to streamline fill-in optometry work.
In the first month since its launch in November 2025, more than 300 optometrists and 80 practices across New York and New Jersey have joined Peared, sustaining a 70% fill rate so far. The founders plan to expand into California in the new year, leveraging Dr. Huang’s Bay Area roots to test the model on the West Coast before pursuing broader national growth.
FINDING MOTIVATION
After her 2018 graduation from UC Berkeley School of Optometry, Dr. Huang moved to the East Coast for a primary care residency with SUNY Optometry. She decided to stay in New York and lined up a full-time job after her residency.
Dr. Huang found herself thrown to find a plan B when her future employer made a last-minute decision to choose another candidate. “I suddenly didn’t have a job, so I pieced together a fill-in schedule for the next 2-3 months,” she says.
She found a full-time position with Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital with corneal specialists and has worked there for the past six years. Yet her fill-in work always remained on her mind and is still a part of her schedule, while on a lesser scale now. She and her husband discussed the struggles she faced that made it difficult. Together, they brainstormed how the process of picking up flexible work shifts could be done easier and more efficiently.
BUILDING A SOLUTION
They mapped out the pain points that many clinicians and practices experienced. “There wasn’t a centralized platform for fill-in work, so our immediate goal is to make that experience more easy, efficient and transparent,” Dr. Huang says. “We envision making flexible work a lot more normalized for optometrists who want to pick up a shift here or there.”
Practice owners often posted in Facebook groups or sent mass messages seeking coverage, having to check in multiple locations for responses. They juggled competing offers and sometimes ended up double-booked. Fill-in clinicians walked into unfamiliar clinics uncertain about the clinical focus for the day or what instrumentation would be available. Payments were slow, and invoicing was inconsistent.
The couple designed Peared to remove that friction at every step. Her husband, who has a background in software product management and design, built the platform himself, which kept costs lean and allowed rapid iteration. He left his full-time job in May to focus on Peared, and the pair began working into the night refining features and user flows. They prototyped with input from colleagues. The result was a tightly focused product built to match real-world behavior rather than force clinicians to change how they worked.
HOW IT WORKS
Peared’s core features reflect practical needs. Practices and fill-in optometrists create profiles. Practices answer several targeted questions about patient flow, equipment and whether the shift will be medical or refractive so incoming doctors know what to expect.
Clinics can post shifts as instant book for urgent coverage or request-to-book when they prefer more vetting. Payments are handled through Stripe so clinicians receive timely compensation and practices avoid chasing checks. Because of this, Peared also handles tax reporting, so practices don’t have to. This streamlines the process for the doctor as well as they only receive one 1099 tax form from Peared.
The pricing model is deliberately low-risk: Peared is free for fill-in ODs, and practices pay a $32 flat fee only when a shift is successfully filled. If the platform can’t find coverage, the practice pays nothing.
IMPROVING AND ENHANCING OPTOMETRY FILL-IN WORK
A recent addition, Fill-In to Hire, encapsulates Peared’s philosophy: the best way to evaluate a long-term fit is through real experience. Instead of the traditional recruiter-led route, practices and candidates can trial a working day together. It’s formalizing the method to “try before you hire” that many clinics already do.
The team has a clear roadmap of other community-requested features. At the top of the list is a voice calling feature, followed by a favorites list to quickly rebook preferred practices, an SOS emergency broadcast to push last-minute coverage to multiple candidates, long-term absence coverage (e.g. maternity leave) and more.
PASSION AND PURPOSE
For Dr. Huang, Peared is as much about relationships as it is about technology. They named the platform to emphasize pairing—matching an OD and a practice. The logo resembles a pear in a presentation that visually expresses connection and vision.
There have been many long nights and user support calls, but Dr. Huang says the work is rewarding. She says that clinicians express relief at fewer surprises, and they are helping practices fill gaps without panic. The platform begins to professionalize what was once a patchwork system, empowering both sides. “It’s hard for a lot of practices to have a day without a doctor. Peared can help grow the market, allowing practices to give their ODs a break and support fill-in doctors with the work they need.”
