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Medicare costs significantly higher for post-cataract surgery CME patients
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Total annual ophthalmic Medicare claims are 41% higher for patients diagnosed with cystoid macular edema within 1 year after undergoing cataract surgery compared with normal cataract surgery patients, according to a study in the June issue of Retina.
"Therapies that prevent or decrease CME (cystoid macular edema) severity are likely to results in cost savings, particularly among diabetic beneficiaries," the authors said.
Michael T. Halpern, MD, PhD, and colleagues analyzed 1997 to 2001 Medicare 5% Beneficiary Encrypted Files and identified 2,720 patients diagnosed with CME within 1 year after cataract surgery. They found that, "Annual total ophthalmic claims were 41% ($3,298) higher for cases than for controls; payments were 47% ($1,092) higher," the authors reported.
Also, diabetic patients had a 3.05% rate of CME, significantly higher than the 1.73% rate of CME among nondiabetic patients, according to the study.
"Further analysis should explore the relationship of comorbidities to costs among CME patients," the authors said.