The femtosecond laser: Paying for the attendant in the washroom?

If there is a clear winner in the health care field--in terms of increased efficacy and lower cost over the decades--it has to be cataract surgery.  I remember my grandmother's cataract removal in the 1960s. An expensive, laborious procedure requiring days of unmoving bed rest afterwards while the eye healed, and a lifetime of thick glasses.  Now, the procedure takes minutes, the costs have plummeted, and the patient leaves the outpatient procedure ready to drive herself home. As noted here, "The surgery has become fairly common: millions of people have cataracts removed every year, and 98% of the surgeries are successful and free of complications."  The societal benefit has been huge, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology:Cataract surgeries performed over one year eventually save $123.4 billion over 13 years and delivers a 4,567 percent financial return on investment to society according to the results of a cost-utility study. The majority of the $123.4 billion savings are in patient cost savings and Medicare savings, which accounted for 39.4 percent 29.5 percent, respectively. Other gains included employment/productivity (20.6 percent), Medicaid (2.7 percent) and other insurers (7.8 percent).  For each cataract surgery on a single eye, which costs an average of $2,653, the savings will amount to $121,198.The overall cataract surgery cost in 2012 was 34.4 percent less expensive than in 2000 and 85 percent less expensive than in 1985 af...
Source: Running a hospital - Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs