NEW YORK—The uncertain future of the economy for many ECPs, including continued, yet cooling inflation numbers and high business costs were among the concerns within the most recent ECPulse Survey conducted in March 2023 by Jobson Optical Research. Some 25 percent of the ECPs surveyed said their practice has been greatly impacted by the state of the economy versus 68 percent who said their business has been only slighted impacted by the uncertainty of the ever-changing economy.

The new ECPulse Survey of eyecare professionals across the country was started by Jobson Research in June 2022, as a new quarterly research series which monitors a range of factors influencing ECPs' business. The Q1 2023 ECPulse report, conducted in March 2023, surveyed 296 ECPs. Respondents included independent ECPs as well as regional and larger (more than 20 location) groups. It examined general business trends, practice profitability comparability by month and quarter, a closer look at specific business trends, ECPs business plans for the coming year and more.

There are signs that inflation has eased somewhat and gas prices are down significantly and yet 81 percent of respondents said they notice patients were trying to save money due to inflation as compared to 83 percent in the December 2022 survey. Concurrently, 32 percent of respondents said more of their patients were using managed vision care than in previous years. This represents a slight decrease from the 37 percent of respondents from the December 2022 survey who said more of their patients were using managed vision care.

When comparing profitability in Q1 2023 versus 2022, per patient profits were up 1 percent ( a slight dip from 2022), the number of patients seen per day was up 3 percent, revenue was up 3 percent and optical sales were up 2 percent in 2023. The average patient capture rate of 66 percent was comparable to 2022.

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2023, when asked how business would compare to 2022, 51 percent said business will be up from 2022 versus 19 percent who predicted business for 2023 would be down when compared to 2022.

When asked about business plans for 2023, 48 percent said they will hire more doctors and staff, 32 percent will focus more on sustainability and 13 percent plan to develop a subspecialty.









The Jobson Research ECPulse Surveys includes some questions previously asked in Jobson's prior ECP Coronavirus surveys and shows those comparisons when possible.

To download the Q1 2023 ECPulse Survey, click here.

To learn more about the ECPulse Surveys, contact Jennifer Waller, director research and business analytics at Jobson Research at jwaller@jobson.com or visit Jobson Research for more information and details.