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
Alfredo Sadun, MD, PhD, chief of Ophthalmology at the Doheny Eye Institute, University of California Los Angeles, shared exciting new research with the Eye Care Network during the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting on the subject of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON).
At this year's Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nitish Mehta, MD, shared highlights from his research documenting real-world results of aflibercept 8 mg for patients with diabetic macular oedema.
ARVO 2025: Anat Loewenstein, MD, shares data from herself and her colleagues on meeting needs of patients with diabetic retinopathy
At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meeting, Sheng Lim, MD, FRCOphth discusses the benefit of endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation for patients with primary open angle glaucoma and cataracts in the CONCEPT study
A photo of Seville, Spain, with the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology logo superimposed on it. Image credit: ©francovolpato – stock.adobe.com; logo courtesy COPHy
Anat Loewenstein, MD, Professor and Director, Department of Ophthalmology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, discusses the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology (COPHy)
Anat Loewenstein, MD, speaks about the 22nd Annual Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration Meeting in February 2025 and shares her global forecast for AI-driven home OCT
Sarah M. Thomasy, DVM, PhD, DACVO, a veterinary ophthalmologist at UC Davis, talks about how her research at the Glaucoma 360 symposium
I. Paul Singh, MD, an anterior segment and glaucoma specialist, discusses the Glaucoma 360 conference, where he participated in a panel discussion on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in glaucoma care.
Charles Wykoff, MD, PhD, discusses his Floretina ICOOR presentation topic, retinal non-perfusion in diabetic retinopathy, with David Hutton, editor of Ophthalmology Times
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.