Preservation and Restoration of Vision:

Vision for the Future, Part 2: Economic Benefits of Ophthalmologic Care: Three key points for lowering per unit cost of cataract surgery

To achieve the result of lowering the per unit cost, we focus on three key points:

• Increase the surgical volume/surgeon, and improve quality of surgical outcome. A rule of thumb is that for a high-volume setting, surgeons should be trained to do an average of two to four manual ECCEs per hour (or sutureless ECCE), with an efficient operating room staff.
  
  
• In these successful programs there are typically five paramedicals to one ophthalmologist. This frees up ophthalmologist time to perform surgery and lowers cost by utilizing less expensive professionals.
  
  
• Costs are lowered through intelligent purchasing of consumables, decreasing wastage and maximizing staff resources with more efficient operating procedures.
  
  In our planning, we generally try and reduce the cost of consumables for cataract surgery to about US $15 - 20.
  
  This has involved intelligent purchasing and in some cases enacting technology development and manufacturing to gain the means of production for key items such as IOLs and suture in order to reduce the price to a level that is affordable to the economies of developing countries.

Next: Predictive Modeling Methodology

Also see:

• Contents of Economic Benefits of Ophthalmologic Care
  
  
• Table of Contents for Vision for the Future