Darren was worried about his dad.
At 74 years old, Clifton was having increasing difficulty seeing things like street signs and the TV. Poor vision was impacting Clifton’s ability to drive and get out of the house. Darren couldn’t stop thinking about his dad getting into an accident.
Clifton went to see his primary care doctor, and she recommended he get examined by an ophthalmologist to assess his vision potentially for cataracts. His doctor recommended a particular ophthalmologist, but Clifton wanted to talk to his son about it.
The next day - "I looked up cataracts online and it sounds like surgery might be needed to fix them," Darren said to his dad. "How will we know we are seeing the right surgeon who can give you the best results?"
Darren wondered if there was a way to research surgeons to find the most experienced one for his dad.
As we age, the lenses in our eyes stiffen and become cloudy, which reduces our vision (Marcos et al., 2021). The clouding of the lenses are called cataracts. The development of cataracts typically starts to occur in people in their late 60s, but could happen earlier due to genetics or as a complication of diabetes.
Cataracts can be repaired with widely-available surgery (Marcos et al., 2021) During this surgery, the cloudy lens is removed and replaced with a new, synthetic lens. While the safety of cataract surgery has improved, complications can occur, such as damage to the sac that ultimately holds the lens (Aaronson et al., 2020). Many of these surgical complications can be remedied with additional treatment.
Click here to request a free, personalized cataract surgeon report for your aging loved one.
Researchers found surgeons, across a variety of specialties, who performed more surgeries had better patient outcomes (Celio et al, 2016; Morche et al., 2016). These studies suggest that high volume surgeons, on average, have better outcomes than their peers that perform less surgeries..
Two recent studies on this topic looked at cataract surgery. First, Aaronson and colleagues (2020) found surgical complications during cataract surgery declined greatly based on increased experience of the surgeon. Second, Campbell and colleagues (2021) found the surgeons who primarily performed cataract surgeries had better outcomes than surgeons who did not, and those with higher annual surgical volume had less complications. These support the notion that ophthalmologists that perform more cataract surgeries have better outcomes.
"It was very helpful. I have found a surgeon." - Client L
Receive our Cataract Surgeon Report now, for free, and learn which of the cataract surgeons near your aging loved one performed the most surgeries, according to Medicare.
Knowing the importance of surgeon volumes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2024b) freely publishes the number of various types of surgeries performed in a year by local physicians. They publish two searchable data sources that share an Ophthalmologist’s count of cataract surgeries performed on Medicare beneficiaries in a given year.
This first is Medicare’s Care Compare website, which can be accessed at this link: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
The image is an example from Care Compare of how they show the annual number of cataract surgeries and this clinicians national percentile.
The second option offered by CMS is a national data set. This data set is called ‘Utilization Data’, and it can be found at the following website: https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/n0yb-util
The entire data set, with all surgeries, can be downloaded. However, it is also possible to pre-filter the data to cataract surgeries and download the data.
This can be done with the following steps:
These steps filtered the entire data set to include only cataract surgeries. This data can be reviewed on the website or you can click ‘Download filtered dataset’. We recently downloaded this filtered data set and discovered a few of the following insights.
CMS routinely updates the data on their website. The version of the Utilization Data used for the following statistics on cataract surgeries was recently updated by CMS in January 2024 (CMS, 2024b). It covered the prior 12 months with a small delay (CMS, 2024a).
The Utilization Data provided information about the number of cataract surgeries for each surgeon. We analyzed it and wanted to share some insightful national statistics about cataract surgeries that could be found in this data.
Key national statistics on cataract surgeons in a recent 12 month period:
The above chart shows how many surgeons performed different volumes of cataract surgeries. Notable trends shown in this chart:
Since Care Compare does not allow for easy direct comparison of Ophthalmologists by cataract surgeries, we hope these national stats could help give some sense of the numbers you might see for individual Ophthalmologists.
The selection of an Ophthalmologists for your or your loved one’s eye health and potential cataract surgery should take into account location, personal preference, any referrals from trusted sources, annual cataract surgery volume, and if they are in your insurance network, particularly if covered by a Medicare Advantage plan.
You can take advantage that CareKate, LLC already did the analytic work. Receive our Cataract Surgeon Report now, for free, and learn which of the cataract surgeons near your aging loved one performed the most surgeries, according to Medicare.
In conclusion, research suggests that ophthalmologists who perform a higher volume of cataract surgeries tend to have better patient outcomes and fewer complications.
Thanks to the data transparency efforts of CMS, it's possible for future cataract surgery patients to look up and compare the surgical volumes of ophthalmologists in their area. Whether using the Care Compare website to look up individual surgeons, downloading the full filtered data set, or requesting the Cataract Surgeon Report, you and your aging loved one now have access to valuable information to help guide the choice for the right cataract surgeon.
Of course, surgical volume is just one factor to consider when selecting an ophthalmologist for cataract surgery. You and your loved one should interview multiple surgeons to better understand if they are right for your aging loved one's cataract surgery. But all else being equal, data suggests that going with a higher-volume surgeon may improve the odds of a good outcome.
Cataracts are an extremely common problem of aging, and cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed operations around the world. Armed with public data on surgical volumes, you and your aging loved one can be empowered to make more informed decisions about where to go for this sight-saving procedure.
“Son, that Ophthalmologist sounds like a good choice for me. I’ll call them in a few minutes to make an appointment,” Clifton said to Darren. “Thank you for helping me find someone who is close by and, if need be, has a lot of practice performing cataract surgeries.”
While Darren knew he’d still worry about his Dad because there is always a risk of complication, he felt a lot better that he could use available data to help him and his Dad make an informed decision.
Find The Right Cataract Surgeon For Your Aging Loved One and The Cataract Surgeon Report are intended for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
The information in this report is provided "as is," and CareKate, LLC makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of the information contained in the report. The inclusion of any physician or facility in the report does not imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by CareKate, LLC.
This Cataract Surgeon Report is based on publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the world wide web. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions on the part of CMS or our CareKate, LLC analyses. While we make every effort to provide the most current and accurate information available, the content of this report is subject to change without notice, and CareKate, LLC is not obligated to update the information.
All medical procedures contain risk. Evidence cited on this page and in the Cataract Surgeon Report suggests procedure safety is related to surgeon volume, but this does not constitute a guarantee of safety. CareKate, LLC is not responsible for the performance and outcomes of any of the surgeons listed in this report nor complications you or a loved one may experience from receiving cataract surgery from any of the listed cataract surgeons. Receive medical treatment from any of the listed providers at your own risk.
In no event shall CareKate, LLC be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of the use of this report or its contents.
By accessing and using this Cataract Surgeon Report, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the terms and disclaimers contained herein. If you do not agree with these terms and disclaimers, do not use this report.
This page contains a fictional patient narrative intended for educational and informational purposes only. While containing research backed medical information, the characters and individual story depicted are invented by the author as a composite case study. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental. This creative fictional account is not intended to represent any specific person or events.
Aaronson, A., Viljanen, A., Kanclerz, P., Grzybowski, A., & Tuuminen, R. (2020). Cataract complications study: An analysis of adverse effects among 14,520 eyes in relation to surgical experience. Annals of Translational Medicine, 8(22), 1541. https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-845
Campbell, R. J., El-Defrawy, S. R., Gill, S. S., Whitehead, M., de L. P. Campbell, E., Hooper, P. L., Bell, C. M., & ten Hove, M. W. (2021). Surgical outcomes among focused versus diversified cataract surgeons. Ophthalmology, 128(6), 827-834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.01.016
Celio, A. C., Kasten, K. R., Brinkley, J., Chung, A. Y., Burruss, M. B., Pories, W. J., & Spaniolas, K. (2016). Effect of surgeon volume on sleeve gastrectomy outcomes. Obesity Surgery, 26, 2700-2704. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2190-4
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2024a). Provider data catalog: Doctors and clinicians data dictionary. https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/sites/default/files/data_dictionaries/physician/DOC_Data_Dictionary.pdf
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2024b). Utilization Data. https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/n0yb-util
Marcos, Susana, Martinez-Enriquez, E., Vinas, M., de Castro, A., Dorronsoro, C., Bang, S. P., Yoon, G., & Artal, P. (2021). Simulating outcomes of cataract surgery: Important advances in ophthalmology. The Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, 23, 277-306. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-bioeng-082420-035827
Morche, J., Mathes, T., & Pieper, D. (2016). Relationship between surgeon volume and outcomes: A systematic review of systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews, 5, 204. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-016-0376-4
CareKate, LLC
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Copyright © 2024 CareKate, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy