Last week Becker’s ASC Review for ambulatory surgery centers asked the question: Why aren’t more eye surgery centers buying femtosecond lasers for cataract surgery from manufacturers such as LenSx and LensAR?

The article shares insights from premier cataract surgeons around the country who acknowledge that while femtosecond lasers will likely revolutionize cataract surgery there are lingering questions about how to cover the cost of the machines (equal to about $500,000) since Medicare will currently not allow providers to charge extra for this new technology (except in cases of cataract surgery including insertion of a premium IOL).

Other surgeons indicated they may wait to see how the technology evolves rather than buy the first machines on the market.

Finding space for the machines in a crowded surgery center and scheduling use of the machines into the surgical workflow were also cited as issues to address.

We invite readers to share their comments on these issues below.

Here is a link ^[1] to the full article in Becker’s ASC Review.