the laser platform takes up in the corner of an operating room. That's
key to keeping the arrangement in accordance with the Stark law and
equates to between $50 and $100 for each of the 2 days the surgeon
operates during a typical month. The surgeon rents the laser platform
from an outsourcing company, which, for a per-case fee that's depend-
ent on case volume, provides a trained laser tech, surgical micro-
scope, phacoemulsification machine and related handpieces, instru-
mentation and lens implants for each patient.
The outsourcing firm arrives at the Andrews Institute ASC the night
before the surgeon's scheduled cases to set up the laser. Procedures
begin at 6:30 a.m. the next morning and finish around 1 p.m., which is
when the outsourcing company removes the laser from the OR.
"The surgeon rents the floor space, brings us 20 cataracts twice a
month, and every-
body's happy," says
Ms. Gatton, who adds
that the surgeon
passes the cost of the
laser through to
patients, and the
Andrews Institute
ASC collects facility
fees for cases it
wouldn't otherwise
host. Still, she says
low-volume centers
can't consider laser-
assisted cataract sur-
gery a true profit-gen-
erating service unless
7 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J a n u a r y 2 0 1 7
