The study examined 440,000 Medicare patients who underwent cataract surgery in 2011. Of those patients:
• 53 percent underwent at least one test one month prior to the procedure
• 13 percent of patients had one test
• 11 percent of patients had two tests
• 10 percent of patients had three tests
• 7 percent of patients had four tests
• 13 percent of patients had five or more tests
The study revealed that the physician, rather than patient characteristics, was the largest determining factor in the number of tests ordered. Whether the procedure was performed in a surgery center or hospital outpatient department had little bearing on the results of the study.
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