Based in St. Louis, Missouri, EyeCare Partners (ECP) is a “physician-led” eye care network comprising hundreds of affiliated ophthalmologists and optometrists across 18 states and 30 different markets.
In the wake of the company publicly releasing its 2025 Quality and Outcomes Report examining ECP’s clinical performance across the network, The Ophthalmologist reached out to Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Antonio Capone, Jr., to understand what might be gleaned from the report.
EyeCare Partners (ECP) describes itself as a “clinically integrated eye care organization.” How does this model translate into better outcomes for patients across both ophthalmology and optometry?
Clinical integration at ECP means optometrists and ophthalmologists share data and a referral system that keeps the patient at the center. When an optometrist identifies a patient with a subspecialty issue, that patient can be seen by a subspecialist within our network with full access to their clinical record. In 2025, we reached a 65% network efficiency rate for specialty-matched referrals within 30 miles, up from about 53% the previous year – ensuring patients receive the subspecialty care they need, with fewer being lost to follow-up.
On the outcomes side, our cataract surgery results speak for themselves: 95.3% of patients achieved 20/40 or better best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) across more than 132,000 procedures, with complication rates – endophthalmitis at 0.018%, wound dehiscence at 0.006% – well below US national benchmarks. These figures reflect a system-wide commitment to quality.
Our optometrists conducted over 1.4 million exams and served as the first line of defense in identifying conditions like glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and dry eye disease. Nearly 40,000 patients received an initial glaucoma diagnosis through our optometry network alone in 2025. That’s the value of integration: catching disease early and efficiently directing patients to the appropriate level of care.
Continuity of care can be challenging in fragmented healthcare systems. How does integration help patients move more smoothly through the care pathway?
We’ve built intentional infrastructure to reduce gaps. We identified optometric hubs with nearby ophthalmology partners and deployed resources to eliminate referral barriers. We track kept appointments, not just referrals — because access alone doesn’t guarantee care delivery. Technology is a major enabler, as data harmonization makes true clinical integration possible. Our proprietary E360+ practice management and electronic health record (EHR) system, now deployed across the entire Optometry Division, standardizes workflows, supports online check-in, and facilitates analytics. On the ophthalmology side, we’re consolidating more than 10 legacy systems into two. The Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform we introduced in 2025 further strengthens connections between our doctors and patients with personalized education, and supports referral relationships with optometrists both inside and outside ECP.
From a leadership perspective, what have been the biggest lessons in building a nationwide, clinically integrated eye-care model that still preserves physician autonomy?
First and foremost, the critical importance of genuine – not just symbolic – physician engagement in leadership. Our Medical Executive Board (MEB) – comprising nearly 100 practicing doctors on committees guiding best practices, research, advocacy, and technology – works closely with senior management.
The second lesson is that standardization and autonomy are not mutually exclusive. We establish clinical standards, care pathways, and quality-monitoring processes while respecting individual clinicians' judgment.
The third lesson is cultural. When you bring together 59 ophthalmology practices and six optometry brands, each with its own identity and history, the greatest value lies in integrating them into a unified whole. This transition requires building trust over time. The EyeCare Partners Innovation Center (EPIC) was specifically designed for this purpose – leveraging data and the collective expertise of nearly 1,000 providers to create value that individual practices cannot achieve alone, working closely with colleagues in the Support Center.
In terms of cataract surgery volumes and patient demographics, what major national trends does the report highlight?
ECP surgeons performed approximately 132,600 primary cataract surgeries in 2025, consistent with the previous two years. Nationally, we are on the cusp of a demographic shift: by age 75, about half of Americans are expected to develop cataracts, and the more than 4 million cataract surgeries performed annually are projected to double within the next 15 to 20 years. This has significant implications for workforce planning and surgical capacity.
The technology mix is also evolving. Our premium intraocular lens (IOL) data shows BCVA rates ranging from 97% to over 99% achieving 20/40 or better across toric, multifocal, extended depth of focus (EDOF), and light adjustable lens (LAL) categories. Patient expectations are rising – people want reduced spectacle dependence, not just restored acuity.
Retinal diseases like AMD and diabetic retinopathy continue to rise. What trends are you seeing?
The demand for our services is increasing rapidly. Our optometry network diagnosed over 22,000 patients with age-related macular degeneration in 2025, with 40% receiving their first diagnosis that year. On the surgical side, our retina specialists performed nearly 4,000 retinal detachment repairs in 2025, covering the entire spectrum of complexity – from pneumatic retinopexy to complex vitrectomy with membrane peeling. Single-surgery success rates ranged from 88% to nearly 95%, depending on the procedure – meeting or surpassing published benchmarks.
We also completed over 1,880 epiretinal membrane peels – among patients starting with 20/300 or worse vision, 86% showed improvement at 30 days, with 76% achieving significant gains.
The treatment landscape for AMD is changing quickly, especially for geographic atrophy and dry AMD. New complement inhibitors are being introduced into clinical practice, and our network is actively involved in trials exploring photobiomodulation and other interventional methods.
The volume and complexity of retinal disease will continue to increase. Networks like ours have a responsibility to invest in both the clinical infrastructure and the research pipeline to meet demand.
What trends are most influencing glaucoma care today?
ECP managed over 57,000 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma in 2025 across more than 106,000 patient eyes, with a median treatment duration exceeding five years – and more than 70% had stable or decreased IOP over the past 12 months across all severity levels.
Three trends stand out:
MIGS has evolved from an emerging option to a mainstream, safe, and less invasive way to reduce IOP for patients who need more than drops or laser but aren’t suitable for traditional filtering surgery. Our specialists performed over 4,600 MIGS procedures in 2025.
Sustained-release drug delivery, which tackles the ongoing challenge of patient adherence to topical drops, is transforming compliance patterns – we’ve administered nearly 2,000 Durysta bimatoprost implants since its 2020 approval, with iDose Travoprost increasing after its late 2023 approval.
Glaucoma prevalence is expected to increase due to the aging US population, with our optometry network diagnosing nearly 40,000 new glaucoma patients in 2025 alone.
The report highlights increasing participation in clinical research. What does that signal?
Clinical research is no longer confined to academic medical centers. In 2025, our network supported nearly 200 active studies across phases 1 through 4, involving 130 investigators, approximately 1,000 enrolled patients, and 24 research sites. Large networks provide something that academic centers alone cannot: scale and diversity. We see patients in 18 states, both urban and rural areas, covering the entire demographic spectrum – this range is essential for producing generalizable evidence, speeding up enrollment, and advancing science.
There’s also a cultural signal. Participation in research shows physician involvement – doctors involved in trials often drive quality improvements and mentor the next generation of professionals.
Industry sponsors are increasingly preferring organized networks as trial partners because we provide centralized coordination, consistent protocols, a strong data infrastructure, and patient volume to meet enrollment goals.
How important is it for large clinical organizations to participate in early-stage innovation?
It’s essential – not optional. Clinical adoption relies heavily on having experienced investigators integrated into real-world practice settings. Whether we’re discussing sustained-release implants for glaucoma, port delivery systems for retinal disease, or novel biologics for geographic atrophy, the clinical evidence that supports adoption comes from trials conducted in settings like ours.
Large organizations also have a responsibility to engage in early-stage work because we are the ones who will ultimately deploy these technologies at scale. Participating in early-phase trials helps build institutional knowledge that leads to better outcomes when a therapy reaches clinical practice.
Looking ahead, what role will clinically integrated networks play?
Clinically integrated networks will form the basis for how eye care is delivered, measured, and improved. The demographic realities are unavoidable – cataract cases are expected to double, glaucoma and AMD rates are increasing, and workforce growth is falling short of demand. These networks address capacity challenges by connecting primary eye care with subspecialty services, reducing fragmentation, and employing technology such as teleoptometry and AI-supported analytics to extend each provider’s reach.
For research, integrated networks are increasingly where evidence is generated – we have the patient volume, clinical diversity, coordination infrastructure, and investigator talent to support everything from registries to pivotal phase 3 trials. And importantly, these networks must remain physician-led.
If you had to identify one development that will most transform eye care over the next decade, what would it be?
I’d highlight the integration of artificial intelligence, advanced diagnostics, and large-scale clinical data. We are approaching a pivotal moment where machine learning, high-resolution imaging, and clinical data warehouses like ours can greatly change how we detect, stage, and treat disease. AI-driven interpretation of OCT scans and fundus images can identify pathology, forecast progression, and notify patients about urgent issues before a clinician reviews the images.
When combined with longitudinal outcomes data from 2.5 million patient encounters annually, you can identify the highest-risk patients, determine which protocols deliver the best results for specific profiles, and decide where to allocate resources for maximum impact.
The coming decade will be extraordinary. The fusion of data science, therapeutic innovation, and clinical integration will redefine what’s possible for patients.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I want to emphasize that in the Quality Report, every metric, every outcome, every innovation is the result of thousands of people working together: our 300-plus ophthalmologists, 660-plus optometrists, 8,200 team members, research coordinators, technicians, schedulers, IT and analytics teams. Quality at this scale defines our culture.
I’m especially proud of our dedication to community – the ECP Foundation provided over $126,000 in crisis relief to 175 team members, donated nearly 18,400 eyeglass frames to Kids Vision for Life, and the Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation conducted more than 9,500 free dilated eye exams and referred over 2,100 patients for sight-saving surgeries.
Finally, I’d say that the second edition of this Quality and Outcomes Report shows where ECP is in its journey: past the foundational phase and moving quickly toward true enterprise-wide quality standardization. We’re not at our goal yet, but the path is clear, infrastructure is being developed, and physician leadership is engaged. We’re dedicated to progressing with the aim of helping every person we care for see and live better.
