By Staff
Wednesday, January 26, 2022 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations decreased last week, Jan. 17-23, at a rate of -3 index points. That places gross revenue at a level equal to where it was at this point in time (Week 4) in 2019 but below the levels reached at this same time in 2020 (-8 points) and 2021 (-11 points), according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker. All optical sales categories decreased last week, at rates ranging from -5 index points for contact lenses to -2 index points for exams/refractions, frame units and lens pairs.
By Staff
Tuesday, January 25, 2022 12:04 AM
People are desperate to get away. They’ve been waiting to get back out there and are not shying away from those international destinations and big, once-in-a-lifetime adventures.
By Staff
Monday, January 24, 2022 1:55 PM
It’s been widely reported that telehealth use has grown considerably over the past two years, a trend that is the direct result of the limits the pandemic has placed on in-person medical appointments. Primary care has emerged as the most common use case in the U.S., according to newly published data derived from an Insider Intelligence survey,
“Telehealth Trends 2021,” which polled 1,609 U.S. adults ages 18-75 who were surveyed online during September 23-October 7, 2021.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 19, 2022 12:24 AM
NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased last week, Jan. 10-16, at a rate of 5 index points. That places gross revenue at a level well below (-13 index points) where it was at this point in time (Week 3) last year, slightly below (-4 index points) where it was in 2020, and slightly above (2 index points) where it was in 2019, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker.
By Staff
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 3:16 PM
Deloitte recently released its Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) 2022 Predictions
report, which highlights how worldwide trends in TMT may affect businesses and consumers worldwide. The report underscores how many of these trends are being driven by the global pandemic’s economic and societal shifts, resulting in an increasingly connected and multi-device world, fueling the world’s need for more chips, growth in connectivity, and entertainment options.
By Staff
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 12:04 AM
Consumer spending will remain the cornerstone of economic growth this year, but the near-term path will be choppy amid surging Omicron cases.
By Staff
Friday, January 14, 2022 6:45 PM
A
new study from
Juniper Research found that the global market value of the subscription economy will grow to $275 billion in 2022; rising from $224 billion in 2021. Increased user demand for reliable, recurring deliveries of key items, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the support of automation in subscription services, are key reasons for the uptake of subscription services across these three verticals, according to Juniper Research.
By Staff
Thursday, January 13, 2022 11:03 AM
WASHINGTON—After a year of unprecedented increases, imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to return to normal growth rates in 2022 but volumes will remain high, according to the monthly
Global Port Tracker report released last week by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. “Even with the holiday season behind us, supply chain challenges continue,” NRF vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.
“The huge increases in imports we’ve seen have leveled out, but volume is still at high levels. We hope the system will find a way to catch up, but there is much that remains to be done to clear out port backlogs and increase capacity throughout the supply chain. Amid all of this, the omicron variant is a wild card that could not only impact the supply chain workforce but once again drive more imports if consumers stay home and spend their money on retail goods rather than going out,” Gold said.
Imports saw year-over-year growth as high as 65 percent in some months during 2021. That was the result of increased consumer demand, retailers’ efforts to stock up to mitigate supply chain challenges, and comparisons against periods early in 2020 when many stores were closed because of the pandemic.
But increases returned to single digits by last fall and should remain there this year. Nonetheless, volumes of about 2.2 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units or more expected during most months in the first half of 2022 will be near-records. A TEU is one 20-foot container or its equivalent. Those numbers would bring 2021 to a total of 25.9 million TEU, a 17.9 percent increase over 2020’s record high of 22 million TEU that was set despite the pandemic. Click
here to read the full story from the National Retail Federation.
By Staff
Thursday, January 13, 2022 12:04 AM
If we act too aggressively to offset the high inflation that’s caused by the supply and demand imbalances, we won't actually do very much to solve the supply chain problems, but we will absolutely bridle the economy in a way that will mean less job creation down the road.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 8:00 AM
If you're confused about guidance on the Omicron coronavirus variant, which seems to change almost daily at this point, you are not alone. The widely reported, record-breaking jump in daily cases seems easy to understand. Beyond that, many unanswered questions remain.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations was flat for the week of Jan. 3-9. That places gross revenue at a level below where it was at this point in time (Week 2) when compared with all three previous years, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker. Optical sales were varied last week, with most categories either flat or down and only one category, contact lenses, showed increases. Sales of contact lenses increased at a rate of 11 index points, while exams/refractions experienced the smallest decline of -1 index point, and frame units had the largest decrease of -9 index points.
By Staff
Monday, January 10, 2022 12:04 AM
I expect to see plenty of co-infections (of flu and COVID) going forward, but I don’t see anything that suggests it makes COVID infections worse. Those are two viral pathogens that we actually have medicines for.
By Staff
Thursday, January 6, 2022 1:46 PM
While the vast majority of respondents (98 percent) said that their practice locations are open, the coronavirus pandemic grind seems to be taking a toll. In the final Jobson Optical Research ECP coronavirus survey for 2021, taken from Dec. 8-31, 2021, most respondents say that while 2021 was a better year than 2020, it just barely came out even with 2019, according to a recent
feature from
Women In Optometry.
In terms of numbers of patients per day and profitability per patient, on average, respondents said their 2021 year-end numbers were lower than their 2019 numbers. Across the board, however, the consensus was that 2021 was a significantly better year than 2020.
Also in this final research wave, 64 percent of respondents said that someone in their work location has gotten coronavirus, the highest percentage yet. In addition, the percentage of those who responded that there’s been a breakthrough coronavirus infection (those who test positive even if they’ve been vaccinated) was up to 29 percent, an increase of 10 percentage points over the result in September.
Indeed, the most enduring long-term change that has resulted after nearly two years of pandemic is that 31 percent of respondents said that they have reduced the number of patients scheduled per hour. Twenty-one percent of respondents noted that they have increased the number of staff in their practices as a long-term change.
By Staff
Thursday, January 6, 2022 12:27 AM
NEW YORK—The financial outlook for U.S. eyecare practices remained positive as 2021 drew to a close, with the key indicators of eyecare practice performance showing across the board increases over 2020, according to the results of a newly released Jobson Research survey. The survey, Wave 28 of Jobson’s Coronavirus Survey, polled 564 U.S. eyecare practices between December 8-31, 2021. In addition to key performance indicators, respondents were asked about changes in staffing, practice hours, and patient scheduling, as well as their willingness to get vaccinated or attend industry events considering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For the first time, respondents were also asked to report on the impact of supply chain disruptions on their practice.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 10:03 AM
The record-setting surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide—including more than 1
million new infections reported on Monday—raises questions about whether the more contagious Omicron variant will speed a transition from pandemic to endemic disease.