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Article: Refractive surgery makes big strides in ophthalmology field.
- Article from:
- The BBI Newsletter
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The ophthalmic surgery market has undergone rapid changes in the decade of the 1990s. Cataract surgery and the follow-on implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL) dominated the market in the first part of the decade, with steady (albeit modest) unit growth, stable pricing and lucrative physician reimbursement levels ($1,500 to $2,000 per eye). Total domestic manufacturers' revenue in 1990 exceeded $300 million, while physicians garnered approximately $2.3 billion in fees. However, in the past several years, steep cuts in both the IOL and physician reimbursement levels (now less than $1,000 per eye) have clobbered the industry, with manufacturers' IOL revenue plunging to ...