Independent eyecare practitioners (ECPs) seem to be the provider of choice for parents who have taken their child to receive an eye exam sometime within the past two years, according to The Vision Council’s VisionWatch Parent-Child Vision Care Report. In fact, 51.2 percent of all parents with children who have received an eye exam within the past 24 months took their child to an independent ECP for that exam. Parents with health insurance coverage, especially vision care coverage, were more likely than other parents to have taken their child to an independent ECP to receive an exam. Moreover, parents with children who wear prescription eyewear, particularly eyeglasses, and parents from households with high annual incomes were more likely to have taken their children to an independent ECP for their most recent eye exam.
Thirteen percent of parents who have taken their children for an eye exam in the past two years went to an optical chain (such as Lens Crafters or Hour Eyes) for the child’s last exam. Optical chains were a particularly popular option for parents with children between the ages of 14 to 17 and parents with annual household incomes between $40,000 to $60,000. An additional 9.4 percent of parents took their child to a mass merchandiser location for the child’s most recent eye exam. Mass merchandisers were especially popular for parents who were not willing to spend more than $100 on their children’s eyewear.
Finally, a little over 16 percent of parents whose children have had an eye exam during the past two years took their children to a general MD. This was especially common for parents with more than two children living at home and for parents with younger children. Just over 8 percent of parents said
they took their child to a department store or “other” location for their most recent exam.
Do you want to add an additional 38 percent of children to your practice? If so, we should look deeper into this data. Let’s use this summary chart we created to help us.
What %?
Where did they go?
Why and What were the trends?
51.2%
Independent ECP
1. Health insurance coverage, especially vision care
2. Children who wear prescription eyewear
3. Households with high annual incomes
16%
General MD
1. Parents with > 2 children living at home
2. Parents with younger children
13%
Optical chain
1. Children between the ages of 14 to 17
2. Annual household income between $40K-$60K
9.4%
Mass merchandiser
1. Parents not willing to spend more than $100 on children’s eyewear
8%
Department store or “other”
It is crucial to also understand why the 51.2 percent of the children are coming to see you. It really boils down to insurance coverage and quality care. Make sure your office is the best in these two areas.
Since slightly over half of the children are being seen in independent ECP offices, the question comes to mind: Can we do better? Of course we can. The summary chart gives us help in knowing what to do. It drives us to ask these three questions about your practice.
1. Does your practice actively promote seeing infants (e.g.: InfantSee)?
2. Are you marketing effectively to children between the ages of 14-17?
3. Does your optical have options for parents not willing to spend more than $100?
You may not choose to address all of the above questions based on how you’ve positioned your practice, however, you should recognize those three questions are the gateway to adding an additional 38 percent of children to your practice. Manage by the numbers and put in place strategies and tactics to add the target populations you want to your practice.
