Rapid rise in the use of intravitreal injections is 'the engine that will eat ophthalmology'

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — Intravitreal injections increased exponentially in 2006, becoming the fastest growing procedure in ophthalmology, a speaker here said.

Kevin J. Corcoran

Kevin J. Corcoran, COE, CPC, FNAO, OSN Practice Management section member, presented CMS data from 2006 showing intravitreal injections ranked third among ophthalmic procedures. He said it underwent "exponential growth" over the course of 5 years, making it the fastest growing procedure in all of Medicare.

"You're looking at the engine that will eat ophthalmology," Mr. Corcoran said. "This one is the biggest thing on the planet and nothing is growing this fast — nothing."

Cataract surgery with IOL implantation still ranked No. 1 with YAG capsulotomy coming in second, but intravitreal injections grew by 111% in 1 year, outpacing all other procedures, he said. Most of the other procedures that increased were lacrimal procedures, he said. Complex cataract surgery also increased 25%, he said.

"Intravitreal injection is now No. 3. It certainly wasn't No. 3 last year," Mr. Corcoran said. "This one is on its way to becoming No. 1 in a real big way."

The CMS data showed that, in 2006, there were more than 500,000 procedures performed in the United States through Medicare. Out of every 100 eye exams performed there were 2.4 intravitreal injections administered, he showed.

Conversely, photodynamic therapy, laser choroid and focal laser decreased by 61%, 30% and 9%, respectively.

"Those are the ones that, formerly, you did for the same reasons, so clearly a huge shift in retina," Mr. Corcoran said.