Author: Healio ophthalmology

RS-3000 Advance OCT system receives 510(k) clearance

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The RS-3000 Advance optical coherence tomography system has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nidek announced in a press release. The system, which incorporates a scanning laser ophthalmoscope, is designed to evaluate the retina and choroid. It has a wide area scan of 9 mm × 9 mm, a tracing high-definition function and an automatic registration function that compensates for cyclotorsion during image acquisition, the release said.

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BLOG: What the latest evolution in the Google search algorithm means for online advertising in 2014

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Penguin, Panda and Hummingbird, oh my! Just when you thought you were getting the hang of how Google’s search algorithms of Panda and Penguin worked, Google turned 15 and surprised everyone with Hummingbird, which affected 90% of searches worldwide. A search engine algorithm is a formula used by Google to take a user’s search terms and combine them with information on websites to provide the person performing a Google search with the best possible match. Seventy-seven percent of patients looking for health care information online begin by visiting a search (Read more...)

BLOG: AzaSite available again

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The long AzaSite saga has taken another turn, this one for the better. I spent quite a bit of time last week on the phone with the VP of Provider Relations for Akorn, who shared that AzaSite has been produced, released and distributed nationally since Feb. 1. You can imagine my surprise because every prescription I’ve written up until March 1 has come back with a note: “Not available.” We did learn of a new app for your smartphone, GoodRx, that will show cost and availability for medicines at local (Read more...)

IRIS Registry to allow wide-ranging access to accurate ophthalmology data

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While the concept of a clinical registry is not new to ophthalmology, the Intelligent Research in Sight Registry will be the specialty’s first truly national database. The registry is designed to allow clinicians and researchers to seamlessly collect data and use them to improve patient care, comply with government quality reporting requirements and, ultimately, conduct clinical and post-market research. Clinical measurement is an essential tool for improving care, according to William L. Rich III, MD, AAO medical director of health policy and chair of the Registry Measure Development Workgroup.

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Another year of SGR? Fix increasingly uncertain as Democrats, Republicans debate payment method

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p>Earlier this month, doctors were hopeful that a permanent fix to the flawed sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) underlying the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule was finally on the horizon. After all, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both houses agreed on a bill that would increasingly base providers’ reimbursement on certain performance measures or on a provider’s participation in alternative payment models.The momentum created by the bipartisan, bicameral agreement, however, is quickly unraveling as lawmakers debate how to pay for the $138.4 billion measure. On Friday, the (Read more...)

FDA panel recommends approval of Visian toric implantable collamer lens, has reservations

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GAITHERSBURG, Md. – The Visian toric implantable collamer lens was today recommended for approval by the Ophthalmic Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Visian toric implantable collamer lens (TICL, STAAR Surgical) is a toric model intended for the correction of myopic astigmatism in adults age 21 to 45 years. Majority ruled in favor of recommending the lens be approved on all three questions posed to the panel.

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Medicare SGR reform hits another political snag in Congress

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Efforts to eliminate Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula hit a political speed bump early today when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure including provisions to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act.Even before the 238-181 vote, the American Medical Association wrote to Congress expressing “profound disappointment” that the process to reform Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) had “become a victim of partisan approaches to resolve budgetary issues.”Lawmakers face a March 31 deadline, when the current payment patch will expire, triggering a 24% cut to physician payments.

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SUNDROP initiative Telemedicine shows high accuracy in diagnosing ROP

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Telemedicine proved accurate and reliable in diagnosing treatment-warranted retinopathy of prematurity, according to a study by the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity telemedicine initiative. “Telemedicine, as implemented in the SUNDROP initiative, assists the ROP workforce in identifying high-risk infants with vision-threatening disease and ensuring all premature infants have access to quaternary nursery level care, regardless of their birthplace,” the study authors said.

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