Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
[Operator Instructions]. And our first question comes from the line of Lisa Gill with JP Morgan. Please proceed with question.
Lisa Gill
Thanks very much and good morning. In July, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners did a study, and they found that 22% of people said they are going to go to the doctor less going forward because of the concerns around the economy. I’m just wondering. What you hearing from your doctors? Clearly, you had a nice quarter this quarter and sales were really good on the Physician side, but what kind of impact could that have? Then secondly, as we look to China and look at sourcing in China, clearly they are having a lot of issues there right now, slowing down even more so than the US. Is this giving you an opportunity to really use your purchasing power and your relationships to get even better pricing than what you had anticipated in some of your sourcing relationships? Thanks.
David Bronson
Good morning, Lisa. Two great questions, it’s something that we’ve been very carefully watching, and talking to our customers and monitoring. I believe there’s two basic trends that you’ll see. One is where people with discretionary income will not have procedures done. Whether that’s plastic surgery procedures or voluntary procedures, people will cut back on those kind of things, and we’ve seen that in the market. The other thing you’ll see is that, when people are depressed or not feeling good about the world around them, they do go see their doctor for the aches and pains that they’ve been not paying attention to, because of a couple of things. One, they might be afraid they’re going to lose their benefits. Two, if they’re going to be laid off, they have 18 months to use their benefits. So, there are some competing trends in the market. There are some competing things that go on in a downturn in the economy. I think, short-term, the general practitioner is in a very good position and does very well in these economic conditions. I think the more specialized you are and more dependent on voluntary procedures, the more you will see an impact. At the same time, if it goes on for an extended period of time, 24 or 36 months, I believe you start to see an impact, even on the general practitioner. So --
Lisa Gill
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
