Cover: Use of Eye Care Services Among the 1991 Medicare Population

Use of Eye Care Services Among the 1991 Medicare Population

Published In: Ophthalmology, v. 103, no. 11, Nov. 1996, p. 1732-1743

Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 1996

by Leon Ellwein, V. Friedlin, A. Marshall McBean, Paul Lee

The authors examine the use of eye care services among the 1991 Medicare population based on claims from a representative 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries. They found that about 1/2 of the Medicare beneficiaries used one or more eye services in 1991. Ophthalmologists provided services to 71% of this eye care population and optometrists 22%. Cataract was the most common condition, accounting for 41% of visits to ophthalmologists and 1.2 million cases of surgery. Glaucoma accounted for 19% of visits and retinal disease for 14%.

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