A long with its impact on private practices, inflation is causing challenges throughout the entire ophthalmic industry. With rising costs and supply chain issues abound, what have vendors experienced during the last year, how do they plan to combat these challenges, and will these problems affect ophthalmologists and their practices?

To gain some further insight, we talked to Sandor Palfi, commercial vice president of the Americas at Johnson & Johnson Vision, who is responsible for leading the commercial operations for the surgical business across the United States, Latin America and Canada. In this role, Mr. Palfi’s focus is on delivering innovative surgical products and solutions to ophthalmologists and their patients to address their unmet needs in these regions. His career at Johnson & Johnson spans nearly two decades, and he provides perspective on the economy’s impact on industry here.

Ophthalmology Management: How has the state of the economy, including supply chain issues and rising costs, impacted your company over the last year or so?

Sandor Palfi: It is undeniable that the global economy has been volatile and unpredictable due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and other world events, and we’ve seen it affect labor, prices, inflation and raw materials across all industries.

And like many others in ophthalmology, we’ve felt these things, while also experiencing high demand for our products as patients continue to prioritize their sight and seek out solutions that provide better outcomes.

OM: With growing talk around a potential recession, how is your company approaching 2023 and beyond?

SP: We remain committed to shaping and creating new standards of care, creating new categories and disrupting the market with meaningful innovation and solutions to redefine healthy sight for life.

One strong example is our new TECNIS Symfony OptiBlue IOL, our newest addition to our presbyopia-correcting IOL portfolio powered by InteliLight. Other examples include our investments in refractive in both excimer and femto platforms, across which we have a long legacy of innovation, and our support of scientific exchange and education, as well.

We do this so we can protect, improve and restore the sight of more people each year. Because while product innovation is what we do, our commitment to patient outcomes is why we do it — outcomes are our mission, just as they are for our customers.

OM: How do you foresee the economy’s impact on industry affecting ophthalmology practices?

SP: We know that many ophthalmology practices are feeling the strains of the economic challenges, and the technicians, nurses and surgeons must navigate a lot to deliver excellent care to their patients while keeping their businesses running smoothly.

It will be important for us to continue fostering strong relationships with our customers and understanding their challenges so we can focus on innovating behind what will help maximize procedural efficiencies and improve patient outcomes and minimize the economic impact for our customers. OM