Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct;26(5):230.e1-230.e6.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2022.05.017. Epub 2022 Sep 16.

The socioeconomic effect of COVID-19 on pediatric ophthalmologists: data from the first 12 months

Lance M Siegel  1 , Brent A Siegel  2 , Eric A Packwood  3 , Shira L Robbins  4 ; AAPOS Socioeconomic Committee
Collaborators, Affiliations

The socioeconomic effect of COVID-19 on pediatric ophthalmologists: data from the first 12 months

Lance M Siegel et al. J AAPOS. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the socioeconomic effect on pediatric ophthalmologists (POs) of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the association of practice type with financial impact.

Methods: An email follow-up survey of all AAPOS active members (POs) in April 2021, was used in conjunction with two prior surveys. The majority of US states were represented, and respondents were categorized as academic/university (AU), hospital employee (H), or one of three types of private practice: multispecialty ophthalmology practice (MSP), pediatric ophthalmology/strabismus group (PG), or solo practice (SP).

Results: The cumulative results during this one-year period revealed 1,533,203 examinations not performed, of which 498,291 were Medicaid. Over 65,000 surgeries were not performed. The average salary loss per PO was $57,188. The total loss of revenue for the pediatric ophthalmology sector was over $303,788,000. Practice groups making at least 75% of their prior year revenue were as follows: H, 81%; AU, 64%; MSP, 52%; PG, 50%; SP, 40%. Salary reduction in each group was as follows: H, 4.2%; AU, 15.4%; MSP, 17.2%; PG, 23.1%; SP, 40.9%. The average loss per practice was $290,151. More than 95% of private practice POs received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Conclusions: At the one-year mark of the pandemic, patient care had been severely disrupted, with subsequent financial consequences. Private practice providers (and especially solo practices) were disproportionally negatively affected.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Surgical and exam volume: one-year projected trend of surgical and examination volume, and actual one-year self-reported reduction of surgical volume, during COVID 19 pandemic.
Fig 2
Fig 2
Revenue as percentage of normal: one-year projected trend of practice revenue, and one-year actual self-reported reduction of total practice revenue, during COVID 19 pandemic.
Fig 3
Fig 3
Pediatric ophthalmology clinical Medicaid percentages during the study period of the COVID-19 pandemic, from July 2020 interim survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Robbins S.L., Packwood E.A., Siegel L.M. The impact of COVID-19 shutdown on US pediatric ophthalmologist. J AAPOS. 2020;24:189–194. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Ophthalmology, AcadeMetrics, academetrics.aao.org. Accessed September 8, 2022.
    1. Wohl C.Z., Pinto J.B. How can I recruit and retain staff? This challenge has only grown since the start of the pandemic. Ophthalmology Management. December 1, 2021
    1. Baker-Schena L. Private equity and ophthalmology. EyeNet Magazine, November. 2019:39–44.
    1. Jagannathan M. For the first time, physicians are less likely to operate their own practices. Market Watch. May 8, 2021