EW
NEWS & OPINION
12
May 2014
ASCRS continued from page 11
Send us your
favorite app!
Have a favorite app that
helps you with business or
personal activities? Email
stacy@eyeworld.org with the
app name and how it helped you.
Apps selected will be published
in Ophthalmology Business and
their submitters will receive a
$50 iTunes card.
You may be selected for a brief
interview.
What the CMS payment infor-
mation does not show is how many
of those billable dollars go to cover
the
highly trained surgical staff, ex-
pensive Medicare Part B medications
administered in the physician's
office, high-tech and costly equip-
ment, clean and safe surgical envi-
ronments, and overall patient care
that Medicare recipients rightly
want and deserve. Doctors must pay
for these things upfront, and many
earn low profit margins on drugs
and
equipment.
With millions of cataract surger-
ies performed each year, there is no
other surgical procedure under
Medicare completed as frequently.
Since the data provides only totals,
with no interpretation or other
information, the sheer volume of
cataract surgeries will make it appear
that cataract surgeries are costing
more
than other surgeries. As we
know, this is certainly not the case.
Over the last 20 years, doctors have
earned consistently less for each
cataract surgery they perform. Doc-
tors are making less today than they
did for the same procedure just a few
years ago, and they are feeling the
squeeze as expenses, insurance, and
other costs continue to rise.
It
is easy for the general public
to forget that modern cataract sur-
gery has all but eliminated cataract
blindness in the United States. It is
so common that many in the U.S.
take for granted a cure for what in
many parts of the world still leaves
millions without the essential gift of
sight. ASCRS understands why the
public
would want this information
about their doctors and their tax
dollars, and transparency is a pro-
ductive step toward making health-
care more affordable for everyone.
ASCRS is working to ensure that the
public is armed with the informa-
tion they need to interpret the data
fairly and accurately.
EW
Contact information
Sebrell: csebrell@ASCRS.org
