Your thoughts on... the economy

Article

This month's topic: professional expenditure

Key Points

Here at Ophthalmology Times Europe, we were interested to see how you think the seemingly ever-worsening economic climate would impact on professional expenditure this year, and we were surprised by the results of our enquiries.

In answer to the question "How do you think your professional expenditure will change in 2009 compared with 2008?",1 only 32% of survey respondents answered that they were planning to reduce their expenditure (to varying degrees) this year. The most common single response was "I plan to spend about the same" (29%), and the remaining 39% are in fact planning to increase professional expenditure this year to varying degrees.

The polarity of the responses to the question "How much do you plan to spend on new products and equipment this year?"3 was striking. In contrast to earlier results, this survey revealed that ophthalmologists in fact intend to spend either very little or very large sums in 2009: a large proportion of respondents (33%) are expecting to spend over €500,000 on new products and equipment, although slightly more (38%) intend to spend no more than €50,000.

Overall, however, despite the relative caution in terms of money spent on acquiring new products and equipment, it seems that the European ophthalmology market is starting 2009 from a healthy position.

-----------------

1. OTE online survey; http://www.oteurope.com/, December 2008.

2. OTE online survey; http://www.oteurope.com/, November 2008.

3. OTE online survey; http://www.oteurope.com/, January 2009. Results correct at the time of going to press.

Newsletter

Join ophthalmologists across Europe—sign up for exclusive updates and innovations in surgical techniques and clinical care.

Recent Videos
Christine Curcio, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, shares histology update and revised nomenclature for OCT with Sheryl Stevenson of the Eye Care Network and Ophthalmology Times
SriniVas R. Sadda, MD, FARVO, shares key points from his retina presentation at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium
Robert Sergott, MD, describes fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) and the International SPECTRALIS Symposium – And Beyond (ISS) in Heidelberg, Germany.
Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, spoke with Ophthalmology Times Europe about his presentation. It's titled "An eye on neurodegenerative diseases: Challenging the dogma" at the International SPECTRALIS Sympsoium. In conversation with Hattie Hayes, Ophthalmology Times Europe
Anat Loewenstein, MD, describes her presentation on remote imaging for age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium, in conversation with Hattie Hayes of Ophthalmology Times Europe
Tyson Brunstetter, OD, PhD, a US Navy Aerospace Optometrist at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, shares key takeaways from his keynote at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium (ISS)
Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD, shares his presentation, titled An eye on neurodegenerative diseases: Challenging the dogma, at this year's International SPECTRALIS Symposium
At the Retina World Congress, Siegfried Priglinger, MD, speaks about ensuring the best outcomes for preschool-aged patients
At the 2025 ASCRS meeting, Robert Ang, MD said small aperture IOLs can benefit all patients, especially those with complex corneas or who have undergone previous corneal refractive surgery
Viha Vig, MBChB graduate student at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, discusses her poster presentation on the relationship between mitochondiral disease, Alzheimer disease, and other types of dementia.
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.