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BLOG: Dry eye syndrome business news from Caribbean Eye
Even if you are not actively in the market to buy anything new when you go to a meeting or convention, no matter now big or small, it’s always worth the effort to spend a little bit of time in the “Vendor Village.” Sometimes it’s just the polite thing to do, especially when our industry partners are helping foot the bill for our CME efforts. There are times when you learn really important things that could have a significant effect on your daily practice life, too.
At meetings, I spend a considerable amount of time picking the collective brains of everyone involved in DES care, whether or not SkyVision does any business with them. At Caribbean Eye, people were talking about a significant drop in the share price of TearLab, so I headed over to see what was up. Apparently, Novitas, the regional Medicare carrier in Pennsylvania, transmitted a ruling for comment on Jan. 15th that, if upheld, would effectively discontinue reimbursement for all point-of-service DES testing.
No way around it, that would be really bad for TearLab (and RPS, among others), for all of us and certainly for all of our patients. Fortunately, TearLab and some of our most influential thought leaders like Eric Donnenfeld and ASCRS went on the offensive. If you read the posting by Novitas, you will see right away that it has completely missed all of the developments in DES care over the last 4 years or so, largely due to a confusing and out-of-date PPP from the AAO.
The bottom line is this: A misrepresentation of current clinical care has been countered by a company involved and by some of our very best DES docs. In response, TearLab’s share price has already started to rise (I do not own any TearLab or RPS stock and do not consult or speak for them). All DES doctors should support ASCRS in its effort to maintain insurance coverage for point-of-service testing. We should encourage AAO to revise, update or amend the DES Preferred Practice Pattern to reflect current best practices.
Disclosure: White is a consultant for Bausch + Lomb, Allergan, Nicox, Shire and Eyemaginations. He is on the speakers board for Bausch + Lomb and Allergan.