Cataract surgery shifting from HOPDs to ASCs

Editor's Note

Most patients who had cataract surgery from 2001 to 2014 did so at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) compared with hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), this study finds.

In this analysis of 369,320 patients who had 531,325 cataract surgeries, the proportion performed at ASCs increased from 43.6% in 2001 to 73.0% in 2014.

The study also found large variations in ASC use, from 1.6% in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to 98.8% in Pueblo, Colorado.

This major shift in the site for cataract surgery has important implications for patient access to surgery, surgical outcomes, patient safety, and societal costs, the authors say.

Question What proportion of cataract surgeries in the United States are performed at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), how has this changed over time, and what factors affect the location where cataract surgery takes place?

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