Viewpoint
Where'd the Money Go?

FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL EDITOR, Alan B. Aker, M.D., F.A.C.S.

I don't have to tell any of you that profit margins in refractive surgery are tight right now. We have no room to misdirect resources as we provide these services. Furthermore, to stay on the cutting edge, we need to continually upgrade and add to the technology we use for refractive surgery. With that in mind, it's imperative that our advertising dollars yield a return. We should not be throwing our hard-earned money at the wall, hoping some of it will stick.

So, if you've ever felt like screaming "Where'd the money go?" this month's cover story is for you. It will help you unravel the mystery. It introduces us to the concept of market segmentation analysis, a technique used by the Fortune 500 to build a detailed demographic and psychological profile of the people who consume their products. Recently, this concept was applied to the refractive surgery market. The result was a clear picture of who is getting refractive surgery today -- from where they live, to what radio stations they listen to, what they watch on TV, and what they eat for dinner.

IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE TO GUESS

Armed with this type of information, we can direct our advertising toward the right patients -- the ones who are most likely to respond. Even a solid refractive surgery practice can suffer financially from wasted advertising dollars, not to mention the possibly devastating effect on an already struggling practice. So, let's learn from the experts how to spend those valuable marketing dollars. Click here to read this month's cover story.