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Study finds surgeons increasingly refusing to treat ROP patients
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Surgeons are increasingly turning away from treating infants with retinopathy of prematurity, a new study commissioned by the American Academy of Ophthalmology finds.
Currently, only half of all pediatric and retina specialists treat ROP, and one-fifth of these physicians plan to stop accepting such patients. Additionally, half of the physicians who no longer accept ROP cases quit the practice within the past 10 years, according to an AAO press release.
Most surgeons (67%) cited medical liability issues for their decision, particularly the high cost of liability insurance, hospital refusals to cover screening and treatment and that the statute of limitation on filing lawsuits extends to age 19. Other reasons included poor reimbursement (37%) and the complexity of scheduling care for children (50%).
Among surgeons who expect to stop treating ROP patients, 10% stated that the issue was outside their area of interest and 7% cited high liability, according to the release.
Commenting on the study’s findings, Ocular Surgery News Pediatrics/Strabismus Section Editor, Robert S. Gold, MD, underscored the effect of the current medical and legal climate on surgeons who treat ROP.
“These are just some of the issues facing pediatric ophthalmologists and retinal specialists in caring for these babies, and it is driving many away from contributing to preserving the vision of our smallest patients,” Dr. Gold told Ocular Surgery News.
He noted that an updated policy statement covering ROP screening, which was recently published in Pediatrics, “puts a more exacting burden on all of us to follow these suggestions to the letter or face possible consequences.”
He said, “[The] responsibility of continuity of this care has been transferred from the parents to the doctors — including neonatologists, pediatric ophthalmologists and retina specialists.”
AAO leaders stated that they were not surprised by the survey results. Both the AAO and the American Medical Association plan to share the study results with Congress to illustrate the urgency of medical malpractice reform.