Thank you for participating in our recent survey of ophthalmic surgeons. This edition of our report includes survey results along with an article on the impact of the sharp economic downturn on premium IOL procedures.
This survey report is based on our analysis of 537 surveys received from US refractive and cataract surgeons.
Weak economic conditions and weak consumer confidence resulting from high gas prices, rising food prices and concerns over high levels of unemployment continued to reduce demand for US refractive surgeries during the second quarter of 2008. Economists forecast continued economic weakness for the balance of 2008 and into 2009, and this troubled outlook is expected to continue limiting demand for refractive procedures.
We asked surgeons about their rates of use of various refractive technologies, including surface ablation and non-laser refractive procedures.
We asked surgeons what percentage of their laser refractive surgical patients underwent wavefront-driven surgery.
We asked surgeons about locations where they performed their refractive surgeries. We also analyzed refracive procedure numbers by location.
We asked refractive surgeons to report their enhancement rates in Q2-2008.
Surgeons were asked if they currently offer phakic IOLs as a refractive surgical option.
Surgeons were asked if they currently offer refractive lens exchange.
Surgeons were asked if they currently offer PC-IOLs and if not, do they plan to offer the in 2008.
We asked surgeons about their average per-eye price for various refractive procedures.
We asked surgeons to identify their primary marketing emphasis.
We asked surgeons about referral sources for refractive patients.
We asked surgeons about their advertising spending in the second quarter of 2008.
We asked surgeons whether or not they tracked conversion rates and, if they did so, what those rates were.
We forecast that Q3-2008 refractive procedures will show a decrease when compared with Q2-2008 procedure volume.
IOL procedure volume grew 3.2 percent in Q2-2008 when compared with the same quarter last year. Refractive lens exchange procedures grew at a much more robust rate, buoyed by the increasing popularity of presbyopia-correcting IOLs, and phakic IOL procedures also grew briskly.
We asked surgeons about their use of presbyopia-correcting IOLs during Q2-2008.
We asked surgeons about their use of aspheric IOLs.
We asked what percentage of their procedures during the quarter were RLE.
We asked surgeons about the number of phakic IOLs they implanted.
We asked surgeons about their prophylactic use of anti-inflammatory and anti-infective medications in conjunction with IOL surgery.
We asked surgeons where they performed their IOL surgeries.
We asked surgeons about the referral sources for their IOL patients.
We asked surgeons to identify which methods they used to promote PC-IOLs.
We asked surgeons about the average per-eye fee for patients having patient-pay services.
Collecting customer feedback and taking action to make improvements is a well recognized method for boosting performance. Customer feedback programs have become one of the most important tools for improving performance, and many of the most successful companies, including Apple, Amazon, Cost-Co, Lowes, and Harley Davidson, regularly measure their scores. Results from these surveys are analyzed in detail and these companies all have programs targeted to make continuous improvements.
This edition of our report includes results from the Q1-2008 survey, along with our analysis of the geographic reach of lasers centers and selected write-in comments made in response to two of our survey questions.
Refractive procedure volume was weighed down by poor consumer confidence and troubled economics in the US during the year's first quarter. Demand is expected to slip further in Q2-2008.
We asked surgeons about their rates of use of various refractive technologies, including surface ablation and non-laser refractive procedures.
We asked surgeons about locations where they performed their refractive surgeries. We also analyzed refracive procedure numbers by location.
We asked surgeons what percentage of their laser refractive surgical patients underwent wavefront-driven surgery.
We asked surgeons about their average per-eye price for various refractive procedures.
We asked surgeons to identify their primary marketing emphasis.
We asked surgeons about referral sources for refractive patients.
We asked surgeons about their advertising spending in the first quarter of 2008.
We asked surgeons whether or not they tracked conversion rates and, if they did so, what those rates were.
We forecast that Q2-2008 refractive procedures will show a decrease when compared with Q1-2008 procedure volume.
Market Scope analyzed the distances that LVC candidates are likely to travel for a procedure.
US IOL procedure volume was up and RLE procedures grew at a quicker pace, despite the troubled US economy.
We asked surgeons about their use of presbyopia-correcting IOLs during Q1-2008.
We asked surgeons about their use of toric IOLs.
We asked surgeons about their use of aspheric IOLs.
We asked surgeons about the types of IOLs they used when performing refractive lens exchange. We also asked them what percentage of their procedures during the quarter were RLE.
We asked surgeons about the number of phakic IOLs they implanted.
We asked surgeons about their prophylactic use of anti-inflammatory and anti-infective medications in conjunction with IOL surgery.
We asked surgeons where they performed their IOL surgeries.
We asked surgeons about the referral sources for their IOL patients.
We asked surgeons to identify which methods they used to promote PC-IOLs.
We asked surgeons about the average per-eye fee for patients having patient-pay services.