Some 103.4 million US adults had annual examinations in 2011, according to The Vision Council’s 2nd Quarter 2011 US Optical Market Overview and Outlook. That compares to 102.1 million exams in 2010; 100.6 million in 2009 and 98.2 million in June 2008. This marks a slow, but steady upward increase in annual examinations across the board, for both chains as well as independent optometrists.
However, the slice of the annual examination pie going to independent ODs has declined slightly–from 67 percent in 2010 to 66.9 percent this year.
Trending downward, even a slight decline, when you want to see an upward trend is never good. This needs immediate attention. Here’s a quick checklist to make sure your practice is moving forward and not stagnating.
[ ] Yes [ ] No Gross revenue per doctor is $750,000 or better
[ ] Yes [ ] No Per patient income is $475 or better
[ ] Yes [ ] No Recall is 88% or better
[ ] Yes [ ] No New patients is 30% or better
[ ] Yes [ ] No Net is 33% or better
If you answered “No” to any of the above questions, then start now to fix the problem. The sooner you address the problem, the better your practice will perform.
