Digging deeper
Here's what we found when we asked about dilation, going dropless, IV-
free drugs and doctor discomfort.
• Doing away with drops. Slightly more than one-third (35.2%) of
our respondents say their surgeons use dropless cataract surgery,
which involves injecting the eye with an antibiotic-steroid combina-
tion before closing, so patients don't have to self-administer eye drops
post-operatively. Ms. Dillon's surgeons used to perform dropless sur-
gery, but decided against the practice, because, she says, there was no
way for the center to recoup the costs.
While dropless surgery adds about $23 to her case costs, Ms.
Zimdahl believes the additional expense is well worth it to patients.
"You spend money on technology that makes surgeons more efficient
and improves clinical
outcomes, but invest-
ing in dropless surgery
provides direct benefit
to patients who can't
comply with post-op
drop regimen or would
have a hard time doing
so," says Ms. Zimdahl.
"It simplifies things for
them."
• No IVs needed.
Only one-third (34%) of
respondents support
the use of "IV-free"
anesthesia, which
involves sedating
A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 5
www.viscot.com
viscotcs@viscot.com • 800.221.0658
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Easily removed vs.
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