ST. LOUIS--Private practice optometrists are maintaining their position as the nation’s primary eyecare providers, according to the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) recently released “Caring for the Eyes of America” survey.

The survey, the AOA’s 10th, indicates that private optometric practices accounted for the largest share--approximately 44.37 percent--of what the organization estimates as a $29.25 billion total U.S. ophthalmic market in 2007 (up 7.5 percent from the AOA’s estimate for industry volume in 2005).

The AOA estimates that 37,083 full-time equivalent ODs were active in the workforce during 2007. Most (up to three-fourths of those responding to AOA surveys) provide care in traditional private practices, although increasingly in partnerships or group practices as opposed to solo practices.

The Caring for the Eyes of America study examines the changing nature of optometric practice over time, including data from recurring surveys on consumer trends, third-party/managed care participation rates, the size and share of the ophthalmic market, optical dispensing and optometric income.

The study indicates that ODs are providing not only more eye examinations each year (2,229 exams annually, on average) compared with a decade earlier, but a wider range of care. Optometrists are now treating or co-managing 66.1 percent of their patients with glaucoma and 83.2 percent of patients they diagnosed with anterior segment disorders, the study said.

And ODs are providing patients the latest in state-of-the-art eye and vision care, with a solid majority of practices now equipped with automated perimeters (91.3 percent of practices), autorefractor/autokeratometer (77.8 percent) and the pachymeter (72.6 percent), according to the AOA survey. Scanning laser ophthalmoscopes and pachymeters are the technology most often being added in optometric practices.

On the financial front, although the AOA says Americans are receiving more and better eyecare through optometrists, that care is rising in cost much more slowly than other forms of health care or consumer prices overall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. As for insurance coverage, 76.5 percent of patients in a typical optometric office are now covered (48 percent by private plans, 28.5 percent by Medicare or other public programs). Nearly half of patients (45.6 percent) are in managed-care programs, the AOA study indicated.

And although practice gross revenues are up, some practitioners’ net incomes are not keeping pace, according to the survey, as margins are squeezed by increasing expenses.

The full Caring for the Eyes of America study is available for $279; AOA members may purchase the compendium at a steep discount, according to the organization. For more information, go to www.aoa.org/caring08.xml or call (800) 262-2210. ■