I was talking with a friend of mine in Germany who was raving about the benefits associated with the Hydrus Microstent (Ivantis) for glaucoma patients. This is a device that when combined with cataract surgery can help lower the eye pressure of a patient suffering from glaucoma. She focused on the features and benefits for both the patient and the physician. In the United States, a widely used alternative to the Hydrus Stent is the iStent from Glaucos. On July 2 the stock was trading at $82.45, on July 14th it was down to $57.82 and by July 26th it had dropped to $47.99. What happened? CMS (Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services) was rumored to slash the reimbursement from $500/procedure to $20. Since both the iStent and the Hydrus Mircostent use the same CPT code (billing code), there is a high likelihood that if this change by CMS goes through, that very few Ophthalmologist in the USA will use this product as part of their procedure because they will be making next to nothing. In Germany, no one is looking at the stock price or the reimbursement code! They are focused on what a great technology it is, and how it will help the patient.[...]
