Abstract
Purpose :
To compare the number of retinal patients seen in academic practice settings (AP) versus private practice settings (PP) in the state of Ohio.
Methods :
Using American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO; https://secure.aao.org/aao/find-ophthalmologist) and American Society of Retinal Specialist (ASRS; https://www.asrs.org/find-a-specialist) databases, a list was generated of all known retinal specialist in Ohio. Subspecialties retina–medical only and retina/vitreous–medical and surgery were used to refine the search. Physicians were grouped as AP (employed by ophthalmology training programs) or PP (not employed by ophthalmology training programs) based on internet query. Total Medicare patient exams for each physician in the year 2016 were gathered from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) database (https://data.cms.gov/utilization-and-payment). Using the sum of Common Terminology Codes (CPT) for eye exam codes (New patient 92002, 92004; Established patient 92012, 92014) and evaluation and management codes (New patient 99202-99205, Established patient 99211-99215), total CMS patient exams were tabulated. Median, range, mean, and standard deviation (SD) of exams for each group were calculated and compared using a paired t-test.
Results :
A total of 90 retinal specialists within Ohio were collected from the AAO and ASRS. AP totaled 20 (22%), and PP totaled 70 (78%). Total CMS exams performed in Ohio by retinal specialist were 120,967, with AP performing 14,156 exams and PP performing 106,811 exams in the year 2016. The median, range, mean, and SD of CMS exams in 2016 performed by AP was median 611, range 103-1446, mean 708, SD +/- 450. The median, range, mean, SD of exams performed by PP was median 1,699, range 176-3344, mean 1643, SD +/- 693. There was a statistically significant greater mean number of CMS eye exams performed by PP versus AP (mean difference 935, P=0.0000002).
Conclusions :
There are more private practice retinal specialists than academic practice retinal specialists in Ohio. Retinal specialists in private practice settings performed more CMS eye exams on average than did retinal specialists in academic practice settings in Ohio in 2016. Private practice continues to play a large role in delivering retinal care among CMS patients in Ohio. Further studies using the above public databases can be performed to assess utilization of services by patients among retinal physicians.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.