Practice Metrics

Staffing: Hours Worked and Compensation, by Practice Revenues

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By Thomas F. Steiner

Since 2005 the Management & Business Academy™ (MBA), sponsored by CIBA VISION and Essilor, has collected financial and productivity data from eye care practitioners participating in the program. At present, data are collected from more than 1,200 established, independent optometric practices in the U.S. From this extensive database, the following normative data on staffing levels and compensation are derived.

Annual Revenue per Staff Member
MBA practices employ one non-OD staff member for each $135,000 in annual gross revenue. This ratio has not changed over the past five years. There is little practice-to-practice variance in the ratio for practices from $500,000 to $2.1 million in gross revenue. Practices with less than $500,000 gross revenue have one non-OD staff member for every $114,000 in gross revenue. The largest 10 percent of practices ($2.1 million or more) have one staff member for each $175,000 in gross revenue.

STAFFING AND HOURS WORKED, BY GROSS REVENUES

Gross Revenue Decile
Non-OD
Staff(A)
Annual Staff
Hours (M)
FTE
Staff (A)
Gross/Staff
Hours(M)
Annual Gross/
Staff(M)
$2,133,000 or more
14.7
28,660
13
$97
$175,000
$1,695,000-$2,132,000
12.7
20,858
10.2
$87
$145,714
$1,432,000-$1,694,000
11.3
17,964
8.8
$84
$142,306
$1,200,000-$1,431,000
9.5
15,420
7.5
$86
$138,703
$1,026,000-$1,199,000
8.4
13,147
6.6
$83
$135,127
$883,000-$1,025,000
7.6
11,825
5.7
$82
$128,107
$767,000-$882,000
6.3
10,362
4.9
$80
$130,507
$642,000-$766,000
5.9
8,868
4.3
$80
$122,262
$493,000-$641,000
4.9
7,125
3.5
$79
$127,288
$492,000 or less
3.7
4,980
2.8
$73
$113,871
Total MBA
8.4
11,971
6.6
$83
$135,104
Source: MBA 2009

Hourly Compensation
The median hourly salary paid non-OD staff members in 2009 was $15.29. Over the past five years, hourly compensation has averaged $14.79. The largest practices pay somewhat higher hourly salaries, related to the fact that they are more likely to be located in large metropolitan areas where wage scales are higher. The smallest 10 percent of practices pay the lowest hourly salaries.

STAFF COMPENSATION, BY GROSS REVENUES

Gross Revenue Decile
Staff
Compensation (M)
Staff Hourly
Comp (M)
Staff Hours/
OD Hours(M)
OD Hrly Comp/
Staff Hrly Comp (M)
$2,133,000 or more
$432,950
$15.46
4.5
6.1
$1,695,000-$2,132,000
$332,495
$15.22
4.2
5.6
$1,432,000-$1,694,000
$283,141
$15.61
4.1
5.4
$1,200,000-$1,431,000
$229,575
$14.59
4.3
5.5
$1,026,000-$1,199,000
$197,428
$14.63
4.1
5.3
$883,000-$1,025,000
$167,552
$14.50
4.4
5
$767,000-$882,000
$150,188
$15.02
3.8
4.6
$642,000-$766,000
$129,200
$14.39
3.8
4.7
$493,000-$641,000
$100,050
$14.21
3.1
3.7
$492,000 or less
$67,975
$12.92
2.4
3
Total MBA
$178,008
$14.79
3.9
4.9

Source: MBA 2009

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