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OCT for personalized anti-VEGF treatments saves US billions
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OCT used to guide personalized anti-VEGF treatments for neovascular age-related macular degeneration patients saved the United States $9 billion.
In the observational cohort study, researchers tracked Medicare spending through CPT codes on intravitreal injections, retinal OCT imaging and anti-VEGF treatment-specific J codes.
Through a meta-analysis and survey data, the calculated the cost of using OCT imaging to guide anti-VEGF treatment was $0.8 billion from 2008 to 2015, while Medicare savings from fewer drug injections totaled $10.3 billion. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation spent around $0.4 billion on research toward the development of OCT from 1995 to 2015.
Taking all of these factors into account, researchers determined the U.S. government has saved $9 billion and seen about a 2,100% return on its OCT investment, according to the study.
Researchers estimated neovascular AMD patients have saved more than $2.2 billion by avoiding 17.7 million anti-VEGF injections from 2008 to 2015. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosures: Windsor reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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