CHICAGO — At the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting here, Shamik Bafna, MD, discusses his results incorporating MKO Melts (Imprimis) into his cataract surgery regimen for patient sedation.
Author: Healio ophthalmology
William L. Rich III, MD, announces retirement
William L. Rich III, MD, will retire this month, he said in a letter to patients posted to the Northern Virginia Ophthalmology Associates website.Rich, who began the practice in 1976 with Thomas Frey, MD, served as president of the American Acade…
FDA grants orphan drug designation to miltefosine for Acanthamoeba keratitis
The FDA has designated miltefosine as an orphan drug for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis, according to a press release from Profunda.Impavido (miltefosine) was licensed by Profunda from Knight Therapeutics in 2015.
VIDEO: Vitreoretinal surgeons benefit from digital 3-D assisted surgery
Digital 3-D imaging is becoming more useful in vitreoretinal surgery, Jorge A. Fortun, MD, said at the OSN New York meeting. As technology continues to improve, Fortun believes that 3-D digital imaging will allow surgeons to move from optical microscop…
CMS expands opportunities under the Quality Payment Program
CMS is offering clinicians additional opportunities to join Advanced Alternative Payment Models under the Quality Payment Program within MACRA to enhance care and earn additional incentive payments.“The CMS Innovation Center, which the Affordable Care Act created, takes best practices from physicians and other clinicians and promotes them across the nation,” Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of CMS, said in a news release. “Thanks to the bipartisan MACRA, more clinicians and their patients will benefit from being a part of these models. That’s good for the future of Medicare, the health of (Read more...)
PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Treating ocular surface disease an involved but rewarding experience
The term ocular surface disease is a useful one to me and includes dry eye disease, ocular allergy and blepharitis/meibomian gland dysfunction. There is significant overlap in these diagnoses, and many patients suffer from more than one of them or even all three.Years ago, in the American Academy of Ophthalmology-commissioned RAND Study, it was estimated that 40% of a comprehensive ophthalmologist’s or optometrist’s daily office visits included dealing with one or another form of ocular surface disease. The overlap of these diagnoses is further illustrated by the finding of Michael (Read more...)
VIDEO: More patients, efficient staff key to successful business
Clinicians in the top earning ophthalmology practices in the country see more patients and collect more per patient than those in lower tiered practices, according to Derek Preece, MBA. Speaking at the OSN New York meeting, Preece compared overhead rat…
Patients with viral hepatitis may be at increased risk of uveitis
Infection with viral hepatitis may increase a patient’s risk of having uveitis, a study suggested.The retrospective cohort study included nationwide claims data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance System accrued between 2000 and 2011. Development of uveitis was assessed in 17,389 patients with newly diagnosed viral hepatitis and 34,778 control subjects without viral hepatitis who were matched by age, gender, monthly income and other variables. Cirrhosis was further assessed as an independent variable.
FDA bans powdered surgeon’s gloves
FDA today announced it was banning powdered surgeon’s gloves, powdered patient examination gloves and absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon’s glove to decrease potential risks to patients and healthcare providers. The final rule, first proposed in March, will be published December 19, and will go into effect 30 days later. “While medical gloves play a significant role in protecting patients, health care providers and other individuals in close proximity, powdered gloves are very dangerous for a variety of reasons,” the FDA said in its statement.
Clinicians tout benefits of proposed ACGME duty-hours increase
The debate over the working hours of physicians in training is heating up as requests for public comment on a new proposal that would increase the length of a shift that first-year residents are permitted to work by 12 hours closes next week.The proposal from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education would increase the length of each shift a first-year resident is allowed to work from 16 hours to 24 hours, plus an additional 4 hours to “manage transitions in care, promote professionalism, empathy and commitment.” However, first-year residents (Read more...)
EMA accepts application for Oxervate for treatment of neurotrophic keratitis
A registration application for Oxervate eye drops for the treatment of moderate and severe neurotrophic keratitis in adults has been accepted by the European Medicines Agency, according to a Dompé press release.The acceptance allows Oxervate, which was designated as an orphan drug by the EMA’s committee for Orphan Medicinal Products in 2015, to begin a scientific review procedure for marketing authorization, the release said.
Allegro completes enrollment in Luminate trial stage 2
Allegro Ophthalmics has completed enrollment in the second stage of its DEL MAR phase 2b clinical trial of Luminate for patients with diabetic macular edema, according to a company press release.In the first stage of the DEL MAR monotherapy trial, Lumi…
Moderate doses of krill oil, fish oil decrease tear osmolarity, increase tear stability
Moderate daily doses of either krill oil or fish oil significantly reduced tear osmolarity and other symptoms of dry eye disease, according to a study.The randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial included 54 participants with mild t…
PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Panelists ilustrate strides in dry eye diagnosis and management at OSN New York’s 25th anniversary meeting
Dry eye disease is an area that 10 years ago was largely ignored. Now it is one of the most explosive areas in ophthalmology, according to Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD.In this issue of Ocular Surgery News, Donnenfeld leads a panel of experts convened for the…
VIDEO: Low add multifocal IOLs decrease glare, halos
Low add multifocal IOLs decrease untoward effects such as glare and halos compared with predecessor lenses, according to Tal Raviv, MD, who discussed the evolution of the lenses at OSN New York. The low add lenses allow for more functional intermediate…
PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Mastering five domains of practice life
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.”– Albert Schweitzer“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”– Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Vitrectomy with glaucoma tube shunt lowers IOP in pediatric aphakic glaucoma patients
Vitrectomy combined with the placement of a glaucoma tube shunt in pediatric patients with aphakic glaucoma lowered IOP and the number of glaucoma medications needed, according to a study. Researchers conducted a retrospective review of 14 pediatric patients, aged 7 months to 18 years, who underwent concomitant vitrectomy and posterior glaucoma tube shunt placement for uncontrolled aphakic glaucoma. Ten patients had congenital cataract, two had traumatic cataract, one had Peters’ anomaly, and one had microphthalmia with cataract. Before surgery, mean IOP was 33.9 ± 10.9 mm Hg with a mean (Read more...)
IOP decrease seen with standalone iStent procedure
A study showed a single iStent trabecular micro-bypass stent significantly reduced IOP in pseudophakic eyes with open-angle glaucoma in a standalone procedure, according to a Glaukos press release.The retrospective, consecutive case series included 42 …
ACP: Repeal, replacement of ACA would negatively impact health care industry
President-elect Donald J. Trump has pledged to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, and with a Republican-led Congress, he will most likely obtain enough votes to do so, a senior official with the ACP wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine.“[Affordable Care Act (ACA)] repeal is complicated. Without a viable replacement, coverage for more than 20 million people will be disrupted,” Robert Doherty, BA, senior vice president for governmental affairs and public policy for the ACP, wrote. “More broadly, even talk of repeal is disruptive to the health care industry (Read more...)
Outgoing HHS Secretary touts successes, says more work must be done
Improving quality of health care and ensuring access to it should be priorities of the next administration, outgoing HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell wrote recently. “The American people do not want to turn back our nation’s progress,” Burwell wrote in a blog post that appeared on the Health Affairs website. “Improvements need to be made, but they need to build on progress and not take us backwards in terms of access (the number of insured), affordability (costs to individuals, businesses, and taxpayers), and quality (the benefits that are being provided).”