Objective:

To analyze the trends in procedure volume and reimbursement for vitreoretinal care using Medicare data from 2000 to 2021.

Approach:

• Data Analysis: Examined Medicare fee-for-service data for 38 vitreoretinal procedures, adjusting reimbursement to 2020 dollars using Consumer Price Index data.

Key Findings:

• Vitreoretinal procedure volume increased sixfold from 527,050 in 2000 to 3,758,290 in 2021.
• Inflation-adjusted reimbursement declined by an average of 32% over the study period.
• Intravitreal injection reimbursement cut by 66%; panretinal photocoagulation cut by over 70%.
• 20 of the 38 procedures analyzed showed statistically significant decreases in volume.
• Cumulative inflation-adjusted reimbursement for vitreoretinal procedures dropped from $742 million in 2010 to $514 million in 2021.

Limitations:

• The analysis is based solely on Medicare fee-for-service data, which may not represent all patient populations.
• The study does not address potential impacts on patient access to care.

Sources:

• Hwang et al. Study