The Vision Council Releases Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report

The Vision Council has released the Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report. The publication of the report continues the roll-out of The Vision Council’s new inSights Research Program and provides a summary of a monthly eye care provider survey about their practice, economic sentiment, telehealth offerings, staffing, and other rotating topics, offering a unique perspective on current optical market trends and business performance. 

The survey was fielded to 244 respondents in the first quarter. 

The Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report is available in The Vision Council’s updated Research Download Center, which has been redesigned to offer a streamlined and intuitive user experience. The Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report is available to members of The Vision Council as a complimentary download and to non-members as a paid report. 

A few key takeaways from the Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report include:

• Economic Sentiment: When respondents were asked to rate the U.S. economy compared to three months ago, 64 percent described the U.S. economy as getting worse while only 36 percent said it is about the same or better. However, respondents were more optimistic about the financial health of their practice and their personal financial situation: 79 percent of respondents said the financial health of their practice is about the same or better, while 75 percent of respondents said their personal financial situation is about the same or better.
• Staffing: 23 percent of respondents said their practice’s staffing levels decreased with the main reason being staff resignation (65 percent). Similarly, 44 percent of respondents said they had issues hiring, with the main reasons being trouble finding qualified employees (54 percent) and prospective employees demanding more pay (31 percent). Similarly, 63 percent of respondents said they had trouble retaining staff, with the main reason being employees leaving for other jobs (49 percent) and employees demanding more pay (31 percent). 
• Practice Investments: On average, practice owners said they don’t have any current plans to make economic investments in their practice. However, 20 percent of owners said they have made an equipment purchase for their practice within the last 3 months and 24 percent said they have made other investments in their practice within the last 3 months.
• Telehealth: One of four respondents said their practice offered telehealth services. Of the 76 percent of respondents who said their practice currently doesn’t use telehealth services, the majority were not sure when, if ever, their practice will implement telehealth services, while one-third said their practice will never implement it.

“We are pleased to release our first Provider inSights Report. We hope members appreciate the new look and layout of the report, which makes the synthesized trends easy to see and understand,” said Alysse Henkel, Director of Research Data and Analytics at The Vision Council. “The eye care provider perspective is so important in understanding the current state of the optical market and business performance trends, since eyecare providers have so much insight to share about what they are hearing and seeing from patients.”

The Vision Council announced its new inSights Research Program in early May 2022. To date, the Consumer inSights Q1 2022 Report and the Provider inSights Q1 2022 Report have been released. For more information on the program, including an overview of the new report categories and publication timing, click here. 

Powered by a modern analytics platform, the program includes all-new research reports developed from updated consumer and market data sources and methodologies. The Vision Council inSights Research Program will provide a comprehensive perspective on the state of the vision care industry through quarterly consumer survey reports; quarterly eyecare provider survey reports; quarterly in-depth special reports on eyewear and eyecare products and topics important to members; and an end-of-year market estimate and industry forecast.

Learn More at an Informational Webinar on Tuesday, May 24

To learn more about The Vision Council inSights Research Program, members of The Vision Council and the larger industry are invited to attend an informational webinar on Tuesday, May 24 at 2:00 pm EST, hosted by Alysse Henkel. During the webinar, Henkel will provide an overview of the program and answer questions. To register for the webinar, click here.

For more information on The Vision Council inSights Research Program, click here.