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KHN: Medicare Cataract Patients Undergo Unnecessary Tests

More than half of Medicare patients undergoing cataract surgery do some form of preoperative test, which experts call unnecessary, according to a recent study.

by Christine Ayala

Veteran Jose Juan Herrera gets his eyes checked by Dr. Alexander P. Sudarshan, an ophthalmologist in Weslaco who treats veterans referred by Veterans Affairs.
Credit: Gabe Hernandez

More than half of Medicare patients undergoing cataract surgery do some form of preoperative test, which experts call unnecessary, according to a recent study. Pre-op tests for the procedure have not been a part of the surgery’s best practices for more than a dozen years. Tests including blood work, urinalysis and cardiac stress tests totaled $4.8 million for more than 440,000 patients during the 11 months of the study.

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Christine Ayala’s staff photo