The key to a busy refractive practice is knowing who is most likely to be motivated to seek and receive refractive surgery and how to best inform them of its potential benefits. It's not how much you spend on advertising, but how you spend it. And, as you know, wasting your advertising dollars is not an option these days.

My organization, the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance (CRSQA), with co-sponsorship from Alcon Summit Autonomous, recently employed techniques used by the Fortune 500 to compile a detailed analysis of the demographics and psychological makeup of refractive surgery candidates.

This is the type of information you should be seeking in order to refine your services and direct your marketing. Practices who understand the importance of targeted marketing will be the most successful.