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Premium IOL increase must be driven by supportive surgeons, health care systems
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BEIJING — With the world population estimated to grow to 1 billion people over age 60 in the next 10 years, the refractive lens market should also grow, but surgeons must be willing to implant premium IOLs, and health care providers must reimburse for those surgeries around the world, a presenter said here.
 Ronald Yeoh |
"Today, cataract surgery is much more about visual enhancement, ie, giving the patient better vision than they had even before they developed their cataract," Ronald Yeoh, MD, said at the 25th APAO Congress. "I don't know about patients in the U.S. or Europe, but in Asia, they are beginning to be more and more demanding in saying, 'I want that, and I don't want to wear glasses.'"
In his private practice in Singapore from 2008 to 2009, 40% of Dr. Yeoh's cases were standard lens implantations, while 60% were premium IOLs. So far in 2010, he has only implanted standard IOLs in 29% of his cases, compared with 38% toric IOLs and 33% multifocals.
Dr. Yeoh said he had thought that premium IOL usage would be more common among physicians in Asia, especially with the high incidence of astigmatism and presbyopia; however, he found that modern centers he queried implanted 10% to 20% refractive IOLs.
There are numerous reasons for that small amount. Many surgeons are not enumerated for premium IOLs because health care providers view them as a "luxury," Dr. Yeoh said. Those attitudes must change for premium lens usage to increase in Asia, which has a diverse population and wealth base, he said.
"I think that peer pressure from the surgeon up the road who does do this sort of work ... probably will balance this up to a point," he said.