For eyecare professionals across the United States, the summer months have revealed a mix of losses and gains in terms of specific product sales and total number of practice exams as business recovers from the Covid-caused downslide of last year. However, overall patient payments have stayed positive.

Specifically, halfway through August 2021, frames and lenses saw the strongest declines in sales compared with the same time frame in August 2019. Exams were even lower.

“In August, the leading indicator to the eyecare market, exams, is down double digits compared with the same time in 2019,” says Evan Kestenbaum, co-founder and COO of GPN. “It’s interesting to point out that the rest of the market did not decline as much, which indicates capture rate increased on all product lines.”

Read on for the revealing real-time data from GPN covering more than 2,400 practice locations across the U.S., served up in partnership with Eyecare Business. We are tracking practice exams and patient payments, plus frame, lens, and contact lens sales from coast to coast on a biweekly and monthly basis.

» Industry data provided by GPN: gpntechnologies.com