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December 2007 was better than December 2006 in many ways. Dispensing, particularly of more expensive progressive lenses, was up, as were new contact lens fits. In parallel, the number of sight tests also increased, as did total practice turnover.
From September through to November, eye examinations failed to match figures recorded over the same period in 2006. October and November are usually high points of the year in terms of volume of eye tests, yet despite better results over the summer, figures lagged last year by 5 to 8 per cent. Likewise, dispensing volumes were low over October and November and correspondingly AR coatings volumes have fallen sharply.
Compared to last December, however, many benchmarks showed an improvement. Total eye examinations were up 3.5 per cent, with a slight increase in the proportion of private tests. The volume of single-vision lenses remained at a similar level, but progressive lenses were up by 7 per cent on last year. The result is an increase in overall dispensing of 1.5 per cent over December 2006. Hence, reports that December results were more positive are now being confirmed. Conversely, Optician Index results then show a continued drop in the volume of AR coats despite the increase in dispensing, and the percentage of spectacles dispensed with a reflection-free coating also falls to 42 per cent.
Positively, moving on to new contact lens fits, these improved by 12 per cent over last December's results, and are up, as is usually the case from November figures, by 9 per cent. New contact lens fits along with solution sales are the only measures which tended to increase in December, maybe Christmas gifts have an effect on sales.
The dispensing rate for December 2007 was slightly lower than last year - 65 per cent compared to 66 per cent. Dispensing rate is calculated from total number of eye examinations and total dispensing, and hence does not take into account multiple dispensing.
One area showing good growth throughout the year was total practice turnover. In general, figures exceeded 2006 results, except in January and November. Results for December exceeded last year by 5 per cent.
Some contributing practices have commented how they are differentiating their product from other opticians by providing a package of eye examination and eye care on a monthly direct debit, something that contact lens practitioners have been doing for some time. This obviously has a profound effect on patient loyalty and recall rates. Whatever scheme or marketing is being used, the result is an increase in turnover per eye examination which is increasing this year at 3.6 per cent on average, the highest annual rate since 2004.
When comparing your practice with the results it is important to note that all our figures are equated to a 25-day month, so year on year, month on month we can compare equal time periods.