November 2005 Issues

LASIK Update -- Quick Pulse

Summary: At the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in October 2005, refractive surgeons and industry sources reported that they were seeing a slowdown in LASIK volume. To see if this trend was continuing, 12 ophthalmologists (refractive surgeons) and an industry expert were interviewed about the latest trends in refractive surgery volumes. Doctors indicated that LASIK procedure volume has picked up slightly from the summer/early fall slump but is tracking down a little from the same period last year. The outlook for all of 2005 is for procedures to be flat to down slightly from 2004.

Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Part I -- Drug-Eluting Stents

Summary: TCT has gotten so large, so popular, and so comprehensive that it is difficult to cover everything. This is the first of a two-part series on the meeting. The first part will deal only with drug-eluting stents. Topics to be covered in Part II include regulatory issues, carotid stents, PFO closure, percutaneous valves, and SFA therapies.

Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Part II -- Non-Stent Topics

Summary: In this second of two-part coverage of TCT, PFO closure, percutaneous valves, carotid stenting, SFA treatments, and more are examined.

CMS Reimbursement Announcements for 2006 -- Quick Pulse

Summary: On Wednesday, November 2, 2005, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual update - the final 2006 rule - on physician payment rates under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and new reimbursements under the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). Physicians will get a 4.4% decrease, but acute care hospitals get a 3.7% inflation increase, home health payments will go up 2.8%, and some rural hospitals get an extra 7.1%.