The Pareto 80-20 Rule in Optometry

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, is a powerful concept that is widely used in management and in Optometry too. There is rarely an exhibition I attended with CE courses that a management course didn’t come to use it. It has a huge impact on the way optometrists use it to improve their practice or to try to include the majority of patients within the practice strategy.

The concept was developed in 1906 by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who was passionate about gardening. Through his devotion to gardening, he established that 80% of land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. In his garden, he also observed that 20% of his garden provided 80% of the harvested vegetables. Later in 1937, management guru Joseph Juran based on Pareto’s observation to introduce and expand “The Pareto Principle” to assume that in any given situation 80% of the results and the consequences of the situation are determined or stem from 20% of the causes. The most common situations where we hear mentioning the Pareto Principle include:

80% of the global wealth is controlled by 20% of the global population;

80% of the sales come from 20% of the sales force;

80% of the revenue come from 20% of the customers;

80% of the business decisions come from 20% of the business meetings;

80% of the marketing results come from 20% of the marketing strategy;

80% of results from the advertising campaign come from 20% of the placed ads;

80% of the social media engagement and interaction come from 20% of the followers;

Commonly in Optometry we hear the Pareto Principle being employed in:

80% of contact lenses business comes from 20% of contact lenses fitted;

80% of the recalls come from 20% of the patients examined;

80% of the patient visit time is in preps, waiting and optical while 20% of the time is a chair time;

80% of the work is being accomplished by 20% of the staff.

The list continues as long as we continue in considering every aspect of the practice and try to figure out how to measure for the purpose of managing. A particular place where the Pareto Principle can be applied is when we think of growth. 80% of the growth comes from 20% of the practice activities. This topic will be detailed in a future post where it will be insightful to dive deep into the origin of growth.