Abstract
Purpose :
To determine whether there are cost savings for the health care system and out-of-pocket patient payments with dropless cataract surgery medication regimens compared to topical post-operative medication regimens.
Methods :
We obtained cost data for topical post-operative medications from the Medicare Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2020 Prescribed Medicines File. We obtained costs for dropless medications from distributors’ websites and catalogs. Costs in United States dollars (USD) were adjusted for inflation to 2022 USD.
Results :
The topical regimen of ofloxacin 0.3%, prednisolone 1%, and ketorolac 0.5% had the lowest average cost to the health care system at $193.91 (SD = 62.43) per eye. The topical regimen of ofloxacin 0.3%, prednisolone 1%, and bromfenac 0.09% had the lowest average out-of-pocket cost at $69.57 (SD = 47.35) per eye. The common topical regimen of moxifloxacin 0.5%, prednisolone 1%, and ketorolac 0.5% had an average cost of $264.12 (SD = 99.75) to the system and $108.33 (SD = 74.36) out-of-pocket per eye. The lowest cost dropless regimen we evaluated was intracameral moxifloxacin 1.6 mg/mL and subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide 10 mg/mL, costing $46.34 to the system and $0 out-of-pocket per eye. There was a reduction in system costs of $147.57 and a reduction in out-of-pocket costs of $69.57 per eye with the least expensive dropless regimen relative to the least expensive topical regimens. Additionally, based on one-sample t-tests, the total system cost per eye was statistically significantly greater for the least expensive topical medication from each medication class compared to the least expensive same-class dropless medication (p < 0.001).
Conclusions :
Dropless cataract surgery using intracameral moxifloxacin 1.6 mg/mL and subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide 10 mg/mL reduces costs to the health care system and to patients.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.