Study finds cataract procedures “more profitable per minute” than retinal procedures at ASCs

A new study published in Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases evaluates “the time-adjusted economics of retinal and cataract surgery” in an effort to clarify how the “dynamics” of ASCs “influence access to urgent care.”

The study, “A Comparative Time-Based Profit Analysis of Retinal and Cataract Surgery in Ambulatory Surgery Centers,” applied a “time-driven activity-based costing model” that integrates CMS ASC reimbursement, intraservice times, and cost data from a provider to retinal and cataract procedures performed from 2021 to 2024.

The researchers then converted reimbursement, cost, and profit to per-minute values, and used a financial efficiency coefficient to quantify “time-adjusted profitability,” while assessing variation in time and overhead allocation with sensitivity analyses.

They found that:

• “Retinal procedures required 76.1 minutes vs 20.8 minutes for cataract surgery.”
• “Time-normalized metrics favored cataract surgery, with reimbursement, cost, and profits per minute of $52.63, $29.28, and $23.35, compared with retinal procedures’ $24.61, $16.22, and $8.40.”
• “The profit per minute for retinal procedures was 36% of the cataract profit.”

The researchers concluded that even though ASC reimbursement is higher and cost-per-minute was lower for retinal procedures, cataract surgery was more profitable per minute. “These findings underscore the need for reform of time-based reimbursement that reflects the complexity of retinal surgery,” they wrote.

Access the full study here.