News

Medicare rules regarding multiple procedures have been well-outlined and can be thought of as the standard. Most payers closely follow Medicare guidelines in this area. It is still necessary, though, to check with each individual payer for specific instructions. This is especially true regarding the use of the modifiers as discussed below.

Dorado, Puerto Rico-Make sure that your billing department is aware of common myths associated with ophthalmic surgery billing, so that surgery claims being filed are correct, advised Donna M. McCune, CCS-P, COE, who spoke during Current Concepts in Ophthalmology.

Each year, millions of people lose a part of their vision. Due to the aging population in America, along with environmental changes, there is an increase of age-related conditions that affect vision loss.

With the number of baby boomers expected to increase to 50 million within the next 10 years, the next boom in the eye-care industry is rapidly approaching. Call it an "optic boom," if you will. New cases of vision loss caused from macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are rapidly increasing. Projections indicate that the current level of 13.5 million cases will double by the year 2020.

San Francisco-During the past year, researchers have been diligently studying how refractive surgery affects corneal biomechanics. One of the major factors that affect the biomechanics of the cornea is total eye rigidity, according to Ioannis G. Pallikaris, MD, who spoke during the Innovator's Session at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

Identifying and prescribing the optimum non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to help patients get the best possible LASEK result is a crucial part of the surgical treatment plan. Likewise, postoperative non-compliance can weaken the outcome of an otherwise perfect procedure.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Administration of nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% (Nevanac, Alcon Laboratories) for epithelial healing and pain control resulted in delayed healing in patients who had undergone surface ablation, according to a report by Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS, and William Trattler, MD, that was presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-An investigational longacting solution of 1.0% azithromycin (AzaSite, InSite Vision) is safe, well tolerated, and effective for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis in pediatric patients and adults, according to the results of pivotal phase III clinical trial involving placebo and active controls.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-A pilot study of topical steroid therapy to treat bacterial corneal ulcers resulted in about a two-line improvement in visual acuity 3 weeks after the start of treatment and a one-line improvement by 3 months, neither of which reached statistical significance.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The preservative benzalkonium chloride (BAK) significantly enhances the antimicrobial activity of gatifloxacin against methicillin-and fluoroquinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to the results of in vitro susceptibility testing and a study using an established animal model of experimentally induced keratitis.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Tobramycin 0.3% and dexamethasone 0.1% ophthalmic suspension (TobraDex, Alcon Laboratories) and loteprednol etabonate 0.5% and tobra-mycin 0.3% ophthalmic suspension (Zylet, Bausch & Lomb) both provide relief of punctate epithelial keratopathy. (See related article on Page 29.) However, the former combination drugs did so significantly faster, according to Francis S. Mah, MD, who reported the study results at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Results of a nationwide antibiotic susceptibility tracking study demonstrate that despite more than 9 years of widespread systemic and ocular use, levo-floxacin ophthalmic solution 0.5% (Quixin, Santen) has continued to maintain potent activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, including against multidrug-resistant strains, said Christopher N. Ta, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-In a comparison of penetration of moxifloxacin HCl ophthalmic solution 0.5% (Vigamox, Alcon Laboratories) and gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution 0.3% (Zymar, Allergan) in a human cornea transplant model, mean peak levels of moxifloxacin were higher than those of gatifloxacin in corneal tissue and the aqueous humor, said Edward Holland, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Intravitreal injection of antibiotics is the primary treatment of endophthalmitis. But not just any antibiotic will do the job-a number of considerations go into choosing an appropriate drug. Travis Meredith, MD, described those clinically relevant factors at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

I have been using endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECP) to treat patients with cataract and medically controlled glaucoma for 5 1/2 years and have found it to be a very useful addition to my armamentarium. The procedure is particularly attractive as an adjunct to small-incision cataract surgery. It takes only about 5 to 10 extra minutes to add ECP to phacoemulsification.

As the years pass, I am amazed at how much ophthalmic practice has changed since my residency, and I think about how things will be even better in the future. Do you remember when glaucoma treatment was pilocarpine, epinephrine, acetazolamide, or surgery? Do you remember when all we could offer someone with macular degeneration and choroidal neovascularization was a low-vision referral? How about 12-mm extracapsular cataract incisions and rigid IOLs without viscoelastics, with each operation taking about 45 minutes of surgical time?

Los Alamitos, CA-Larry Geisse, MD, a surgeon in private practice in Los Alamitos, CA, recently encountered a case of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) that might hold lessons for other clinicians in the treatment of TASS.

San Francisco-The most common complications involving foldable IOLs and requiring explantation showed little change over the past 2 years, according to an annual survey sent to members of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS).

Literature review shows single application of low-dose MMC can prevent, treat haze after surface procedures

Prophylactic, therapeutic use of mitomycin-C considered safe

Dislocation, decentration concerns for foldable IOLs,survey finds

Task force evaluates etiologic factors

ISTA Pharmaceuticals gained exclusive North American rights to Senju Pharmaceuticals' iganidipine, a calcium-channel blocker, and a new formulation of latanoprost, a prostaglandin analogue.

Prevent Blindness America (PBA) announced four recipients of the 2006 Investigator Awards. The winners will receive grants for research projects dedicated to eye health.

ISTA Pharmaceuticals gained exclusive North American rights to Senju Pharmaceuticals' iganidipine, a calcium-channel blocker, and a new formulation of latanoprost, a prostaglandin analogue.

Compared with placebo, ruboxistaurin mesylate ( proposed brand name , Arxxant, Eli Lilly and Co.) reduces the risk of sustained moderate vision loss by 41% in patients with moderate-to-severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, according to pooled data from two 3-year phase III trials. Eli Lilly and Co. presented the findings at the American Diabetes Association's annual scientific sessions recently.

The FDA has approved bimatoprost ophthalmic solution 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan) as a first-line treatment for elevated IOP associated with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

The FDA Ophthalmic Devices advisory panel will meet this month to make recommendations and vote on the pre-market approval filed by VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc. for its implantable miniature telescope (IMT).

(OSI) Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have initiated a phase IV trial that will study whether use of pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen) following neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) therapy provides a balance in long-term safety and efficacy. Called LEVEL (EvaLuation of Efficacy and safety in maintaining Visual acuity with sEquential treatment of neovascuLar AMD), the 54-week trial will comprise up to 1,000 patients at 100 sites across the country.

This year, the world's top ophthalmic meeting will be held at one of the world's top tourist destinations-Las Vegas.