|
|
Capital Eye Consultants
Fall 2012 Newsletter |
|
Greetings!
We hope you find this newsletter interesting and informative of new developments at our center and in the field of eye care Sincerely, Clinical Staff Capital Eye Consultants |
|
|
|
|
From The Center Director's Desk
Last Friday afternoon CMS quietly announced two Medicare cuts for 2013 that will effect all eye care providers. The first may have more direct impact on ophthalmologists but also affects comanaging optometrists. Based on the review of questionaires concerning cataract surgery that show that operating times have come down and the number of post op visits are less than previously required, CMS has cut regular cataract surgery reimbursement by 15% and complex cataract surgery by 21%.
The second cut is a little more complex and doesn't seem to have any rationale. What occurs is if a provider charges an office visit and does ancillary testing, any second, third or more test will be cut by 20% of the technical component. This will have its greatest impact on glaucoma evaluations which as we all know may involve a number of additional tests such as visual fields, optic nerve evaluation, gonioscopy, pachmetry and photodocumentation. My first thought when I hear this kind of news is "gee I wonder if the landlord, my staff or any of the other myriad vendors we pay would mind sharing in those cuts?".............NOT LIKELY.
A good friend of mine and trustee of the AOA recently commented to me that its "the begining of death by a thousand cuts". Certainly the future looks pretty uncertain but one thing you can depend on is that Capital Eye Consultants will continue to be there for your practice. Our success is tied to your wagon because we are committed to Optometry and have been since our founding by a group of forward thinking Optometrists almost 25 years ago. We ask in return that you give serious thought to who you refer to and ask if they will still be in your corner as the going gets tougher or more specificly as the dollars are fewer.
James E. Powers, OD Center Director |
|
Get Rid Of Those Reading Glasses
In the next year we will have access to a surgical medical device to correct reading vision in patients who don't need distance glasses or contacts but require glasses for near vision. The corneal inlay is a very small lens that will be placed under a flap in the cornea. The same laser that is used to make a corneal flap during the LASIK procedure will be used. The lens is placed in one eye, the non-dominant eye and the procedure will take only about 10 minutes. Monovision is another way to correct near vision loss with aging. However, the near eye will never have good distance vision with monovision, unlike the corneal inlay where the treated near non-dominant eye continues to have very good distance vision. The procedure can be done in patients that have had previous LASIK and cataract surgery and only require reading correction (emmetropes). In the U.S., two different corneal inlays for presbyopia are undergoing FDA clinical trials. The first, PresbyLens (ReVision Optics), is a hydrogel implant that alters the anterior corneal shape. The second, Kamra (AcuFocus), creates a pinhole effect to increase depth of field. Look for FDA approval of these exciting products in the next year. 
Kamra inlay (AcuFocus) on left next to a contact lens on right  PresbyLens compared to Contact Lens |
|
Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)
Ike Ahmed, MD, an ophthalmologist in Canada coined the term Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) several years ago. The procedures that are described by this term are those which have an ab interno approach, cause minimal tissue trauma (unlike conventional surgical trabeculectomy ), have modest IOP lowering capability, rapid postoperative recovery, and excellent safety and low complication profiles when compared to traditional filtering surgery.
In June of this year, the iStent (Glaukos Corporation) received FDA approval for the management of mild to moderate glaucoma at the time of cataract surgery. The iStent is the smallest medical device ever made( 1.0mm X 0.3mm) The device is placed through the cataract incision under gonioscopic observation directly into sclemms canal and avoids the trauma and postoperative issues of conventional surgical filtering procedures (hypotony, endophthalmitis, pain). The intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering from the iStent is not as great as conventional filtering procedures, however multiple shunts may be able to be placed to affect the final IOP lowering (current investigations)
We view the iStent as the first of a number of MIGS devices that will be approved in the next couple years for IOP lowering in mild to moderate glaucoma. Patients undergoing cataract surgery with these devices will now have the opportunity to have better diurnal IOP control and be more drop-free after the placement of such devices . The following YouTube video nicely show the iStent and its insertion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxdH45DLcUM&feature=related
 
|
|
CEC Webpage Features
As was mentioned in past email blasts, the ceceyes.com website is up and running.. Visit our website
Our site is different than other ophthalmic sites in that we provide features to enhance your patients knowledge (Eyemagination Videos, Newsletters, Forms Archives ) AND features to enhance our referring doctors practices (Newsletter Archives, Forms Archives, Classified ads and Professional Opportunities). Feel free to link to our site and direct your patients to the site for knowledge. Call us or email LSK542007@yahoo.com if you want to post a classified ad. |
|
About Us
Founded in 1986 by doctors of optometry in Northern Virginia, Capital Eye Consultants has provided 25 years of quality and comprehensive consultative/surgical co-management services for the optometrists and their patients in the Northern Virginia area. |
|
Capital Eye Consultants
3025 Hamaker Court
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
|
(703) 876-9630
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
