Although virtually all cataract patient could benefit from a lens that helped them accommodate, the lenses that aim to do this are still not perfect, and surgeons know that several
types of patients aren't likely to be successful
with them, limiting the market. "My doctors
only recommend it for patients who would
legitimately benefit. If not, they recommend a
standard lens," says a Florida surgery center
administrator.
Another issue is that the profit motive is
weak or missing, at least for surgical facilities.
Thirty percent of our respondents say these
services are "somewhat profitable," but half
say they're "not too profitable" or "not at all
profitable." Again, the big factor is patients'
ability to pay. Numerous facility leaders said
they don't mark up the cost of specialty lens-
es at all. "The majority of these patients are
on a fixed income, so we only get the invoice
price of the lens paid by them," says a
Midwestern ASC administrator. Another
respondent says his facility charges cost plus
10 percent, "so it adds only $50 to $90 to the
case in profitability." "We are trying to keep
the cost down so more patients can afford the
upgraded experience," says Claire Welliver,
RN, clinical director of the Main Line Surgery
Center, near Philadelphia.
Balance that against the "additional work
