SPECIAL REPORT
Cost
and Reimbursement Survey
Will
you be replacing Avastin with Lucentis?
INTRODUCTION
BY JASON SLAKTER, MD
Dramatic
changes in practice patterns will likely occur with Food and Drug Administration
approval of ranibizumab. In anticipation of these changes, the editors of Retinal
Physician thought it would be valuable to get a quick snapshot of what our readers'
viewpoints are with regard to the use of ranibizumab and bevacizumab.
Specifically, there is a great deal of misinformation about the
impact of physician-administered pharmaceutical products on physician reimbursement.
In addition, we are facing the economic issues of pharmaceutical pricing in our
everyday practice and thought it worthwhile to assess the degree to which this affects
decision-making in clinical practice.
The following represents the survey results of 79 respondents
who provided feedback in these areas. Keep these results in mind as you read
this issue of Retinal Physician, as we explore some of these areas in depth.
Retinal Physician, Issue: July 2006