Keys for a successful practice include implementing, establishing brand recognition

Practicing ophthalmology during this era of comprehensive health care reform and constantly evolving technology requires a level of diligence never before required of physicians. With the substantial energy and work expended in keeping up with the latest equipment, techniques and regulations, it is easy to overlook a key component of managing a successful business: branding and marketing a practice.On the heels of the 2007 “boom” period for LASIK, when roughly 1.4 million procedures were performed annually in the U.S., we were confronted with the economic recession spanning from 2008 to 2012, when the number of LASIK procedures dropped by half. As expected, many of us experienced a decline in our refractive and elective ophthalmologic procedures. Although current economic indicators are ticking up, the number of LASIK procedures seems to have plateaued at about 650,000 annually.