Distribution of patients with new wet AMD may explain predominant use of OCT
NEW ORLEANS — OCT was the most common diagnostic tool used among retina specialists, according to a study presented at Retina Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.
Theodore Leng, MD, MS, and colleagues analyzed data from the AAO IRIS Registry to identify the utilization patterns of the most commonly performed tests.
“The IRIS Registry includes 70% of all ophthalmology and retinal patient encounters over 8 years, and it encompasses over 70 million patients and 412 million patient visits,” Leng said. “In this study, we counted the number of OCTs, fluorescein angiography and color fundus photographs obtained from January 2018 to December 2020 in the United States. These results were normalized and stratified by region, payer type and practice type.”
ly used tool with 19.4 million images obtained compared with 1.9 million fluorescein angiographies and 4.1 million color fundus photographs.
By region, the Midwest had the most OCTs per patient. Additionally, the test was more common among patients with Medicare, those with an HMO plan and those seen at nonacademic medical centers. OCTs were less common in practices owned by private equity.
The researchers found a positive correlation between the number of patients with new wet age-related macular degeneration and OCTs performed. In their subgroups, the Midwest, Medicare and nonacademic medical centers had higher proportions of patients with new wet AMD.
“The uneven distribution of new wet AMD patients in these various populations may play a role in these differences,” Leng said.
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Leng T. Variations in vitreoretinal physician utilization of ancillary testing: An IRIS registry analysis. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting; Nov. 12-15, 2021; New Orleans.
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