NEW YORK—Many eyecare professionals are utilizing technologies in their practices to communicate with patients in order to educate them about general eye health information and product options, according to a recent survey from Jobson Research. From the waiting room to the exam room to the dispensary, the use of tablets, apps and social media is growing as ECPs try out more up-to-date ways to communicate with patients.

In a wide-ranging study, which is comparative to prior year surveys, Jobson Research’s 2014 ECP Internet Usage Study found that nearly 60 percent of the respondents used an iPad or tablet for educational or promotional uses with a patient as compared to 54 percent in 2013. Nearly 45 percent of ECPs used iPads or tablets to relay product information to patients as compared to just 36 percent in 2013, according to the survey.

The report spanned a wide range of topics, asking ECPs about their accounts and profiles on social media sites as well as how they manage, update and track those accounts. The survey also questioned ECPs about websites that review online businesses and queried ECPs about protocols and procedures for checking reviews. Google is still the top online review site, according to 52 percent of the survey’s respondents. Some 55 percent of ECPs said they were proactive about checking reviews posted about their practice and nearly 42 percent said there were specific protocols in place to deal with negative reviews.

A total of 367 respondents completed the Internet Usage Study in 2014. The study was fielded in December 2014.

Nearly 43 percent of respondents were optometrists and opticians, and the remainder were retail managers, chain executives and others. The age range of the respondents was fairly evenly distributed among age groups. Fifty-two percent of the respondents have been in business for 20 years or more. Fifty-four percent represented single locations, while 19.1 percent represented groups of two or three locations and 26.5 percent had four or more locations.

For more information, visit jobsonresearch.com or contact Jennifer Waller at (212) 274-7164 or jwaller@jobson.com.