Patients interested in stem cell therapy for ophthalmic issues should take precautions to find clinics that are licensed, are associated with an academic center, have a history of running clinical trials and do not require patients to pay out of pocket…
I wish I could provide an intelligent response to this question. My office manager has been busily educating herself regarding the requirements and (hopefully) getting prepared to implement the required procedural infrastructure. That being said, my level of involvement in the process remains at this superficial level, at least for now. Hopefully, my confidence in my administrative staff to “get it right” will be well founded, or we will be in for a bit of a rude awakening.
A sustained-release dexamethasone device implanted during pars plana vitrectomy may be effective in pre-emptively reducing macular edema in patients with various underlying ocular diseases at risk for inflammation.Researchers retrospectively reviewed t…
In October, the CMS released the final rule to implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, effectively ending the SGR formula and introducing a new payment adjustment path for ophthalmologists who serve Medicare patients.The Med…
A delayed delivery system of dexamethasone significantly reduced central subfield thickness compared with intravitreal bevacizumab in patients with persistent diabetic macular edema, according to a study.“Even after 2 years of treatment with anti-VEGF agents alone, approximately 40% of patients continue to have macular edema,” co-author Raj K. Maturi, MD, a partner at Midwest Eye Institute in Indianapolis, said. “We wanted to find out if we could get rid of the macular edema, which over time can cause vision loss, by giving patients a different treatment. The treatment we thought might (Read more...)
For me personally, the drought of seeing the Chicago Cubs actually win the World Series and seeing the joy of my patients who have suffered even longer than me is just the icing on the cake to a great year for the ophthalmic industry in 2016. Thirteen years of having only one topical dry eye medication finally ended with an alternative for those 33 million-plus patients suffering from chronic dry eye disease. Patients with progressive keratoconus and corneal ectasia finally have a treatment other than corneal transplantation. Those patients with (Read more...)