A new analysis of US eyecare practices suggests that patients who wear soft contact lenses generate greater annual practice profitability than comparable patients who wear glasses alone.
The study analyzed 4 years of anonymized patient and practice data from 20 US eyecare practices. Each practice contributed data for 30 patients along with operational information including professional fees, chair time, staff compensation, and secondary revenue streams. Researchers calculated average annual customer-level profits for soft contact lens wearers and compared them with those of glasses-only patients.
Average annual profits were $436 for spherical soft contact lens wearers, $453 for toric lens wearers, and $485 for multifocal lens wearers. By comparison, annual profits averaged $244 for patients wearing single-vision spectacles and $376 for those wearing progressive addition lenses. Based on these findings, soft contact lens patients generated 29% to 86% greater annual profitability than glasses-only patients, depending on the comparison group.
The investigators concluded that the higher profitability occurred despite the additional service and product costs associated with contact lens care. They attributed the difference to factors such as recurring product purchases, more frequent examinations, and additional ancillary spending over time.
The analysis was conducted by Philip Morgan, PhD, MCOptom, of the University of Manchester and Lyndon Jones, PhD, DSc, FCOptom, of the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) at the University of Waterloo, as well as economists Ash Morgan, PhD; and John Whitehead, PhD, of Appalachian State University. The study was commissioned by the Contact Lens Institute (CLI) as part of its See Tomorrow initiative.
According to the investigators, this is the first published analysis to examine the profitability of contact lens patients in US eyecare practices. The work follows the 2001 Seeing Things Clearly study conducted by the London Business School, which evaluated contact lens profitability across 5 European markets.
The complete findings are expected to be published later this year as part of a comprehensive report from the Contact Lens Institute.