Eyeworld Daily News

5 EW SHOW DAILY ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress, Los Angeles 2017 benefit as it gives a corporation isn't going to fix anything. Following his address, Dr. Coburn answered a number of questions. Addressing how to act to move toward free market healthcare, he said the first thing to do is talk to elected representatives and make sure that any bill that comes out of Congress has a mandate for trans- parency on price and outcome. The second thing is striving for excel- lence and making it known how good a job we're doing. Physicians have got to be active and involved, he said. "There's still the potential for us to do so much more, but what we have to get is less government and more freedom," he said. EW Editors' note: Dr. Coburn has no finan- cial interests related to his comments. the healthcare problem. Currently, 80% of the country's GDP is totally determined by a competitive free enterprise model. However, the 20% of the GDP that is not susceptive to market forces are the two areas with no cost containment: education and healthcare. We need to look at a market model that could be incorpo- rated into healthcare to help solve things, he said. "If you look at the compliance costs for Medicare and Medicaid alone, no one has ever quantified those, but they're growing exponen- tially every year," Dr. Coburn said. He stressed that there "has to be a solution for us in our country for healthcare." Dr. Coburn then shared several examples he sees as possible solutions that are developing, with many of these potential solutions of- fering ways for people to be able to see prices, availability of providers, and outcomes when choosing when and where to have a procedure. One such example was the Surgical Hos- pital of Oklahoma, which publishes all prices and outcomes. The prices are about 35–40% of the national average, and 180 cases are performed per day. Dr. Coburn also mentioned MEDIFI, an app that shows the best prices and outcomes for any pro- cedure. Having that information can change your decision, he said, adding that price transparency will lead to quality transparency. This will then lead to the allocation of resources, which could eliminate the $800 billion that's not helping anyone get well, Dr. Coburn said. Finally, he mentioned www.heal- thengine.com, which helps find the best providers in any field. It also offers price, availability, and history of outcomes. The best way to allocate scarce resources is a free market system, he said, where markets and price discovery determine what the value is of our services. Market forces are going to come to healthcare despite what the government does, he said. Our healthcare dilemma has to be solved because there are 85 mil- lion millennials counting on us not bankrupting them, he said. There is more than $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities in Medicare alone that will have to be paid back in the next 50 years. Physicians and the healthcare industry have to lead the way and not wait on Washington. Dr. Coburn added that any bill that does not give an individual the same tax Government Relations continued from page 1 including the TOPGUN sympo- sium, East Meets West session, and a FLACS symposium, Dr. Holland said. APACRS President Ronald Yeoh, MD, Singapore, spoke briefly, noting that this year's meeting is special because it's the first time APACRS has joined with ASCRS in planning some of these special events at the meeting. He also thanked ASCRS for supporting and encouraging APACRS over the years. Dr. Holland noted a number of other sessions and program high- lights that will be held throughout the meeting, as well as the special Young Eye Surgeons (YES) program- ming, specifically designed for sur- geons in training or new to practice. Outgoing ASCRS President Ker- ry Solomon, MD, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, spoke, followed by Incoming ASCRS President Bonnie Henderson, MD, Boston. One year ago, Dr. Solomon spoke about member involvement and encouraged members to come together as a group to share goals to further patient needs. "I hope this year I was able to lead by example and show that ASCRS is a good cause and we need you," he said. During the past year, Dr. Solo- mon said there have been a num- ber of accomplishments. A record number of members got involved, 1,778, which is more than a fifth of ASCRS members. As a result of that, the society has established many new initiatives and accomplished a great deal, he said. Operation Sight has helped to restore sight in more than 1,000 needy Americans, Dr. Solomon added, with more than 325 people stepping up to volunteer. "When we come together the way we did this past year, we can accom- plish some great things," he said. Advancement of patient care bonds us as colleagues and ophthalmolo- gists, Dr. Solomon said. "The past year has been one of the highlights of my life," Dr. Solomon said, "because I enjoyed being part of something bigger than just myself. But this is not the end— it's just the beginning, and there's still so much more to do." Dr. Henderson began by saying that she was "deeply humbled to lead what I think is the best organi- zation in ophthalmology." ASCRS was founded by a handful of brave pioneers and led by a number of innovators, she said. All of these people have shaped the society to become what it is today. Dr. Henderson thinks that ASCRS provides the best education for anterior segment surgeons world- wide. She wants to build on what has been done and continue to grow its educational resources. Dr. Henderson spoke about a new initiative, a prospective study on intracameral antibiotics, that she's particularly excited about. She also highlighted the need for advo- cacy and how important it is to try to advocate for change in healthcare delivery. Honored guests Luther Fry, MD, Garden City, Kansas, and Y.C. Lee, MD, Perak, Malaysia, were welcomed. The Opening General Session also featured the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame cere- mony for Carl Koller, MD, Vienna, Austria (deceased), and Gullapalli Rao, MD, Hyderabad, India. The session included an ASCRS Foundation update from Jim Mazzo, Orange County, California, Stephen Lane, MD, Stillwater, Minnesota, and David Chang, MD, Los Altos, California. Mr. Mazzo spoke about the Foundation's industry partners and thanked them for their support. In each of the past 3 years, industry has topped the prior year's total dona- tions to the Foundation's educa- tional and humanitarian program, he said. This has helped to improve surgical capabilities of American and international ophthalmologists. Many large companies as well as smaller and mid-sized companies have donated, Mr. Mazzo said. Dr. Lane spoke about the do- mestic programs of the ASCRS Foun- dation, specifically highlighting the 50 for 50 Campaign, celebrating the 50th anniversary of phacoemulsifi- cation. The Foundation is encourag- ing everyone to make a $50 dona- tion to celebrate this milestone. Finally, Dr. Chang highlight- ed the Foundation's international programs, which he said are build- ing coalitions that address global cataract blindness, particularly in the developing world. The tragedy is how many blind cataract patients lack access to care and how many surgeons need access to better surgical training, Dr. Chang said. "We are fortunate to give back and honor what phaco has meant to us and what it has done for all of our patients," he said. EW Editors' note: The speakers have no financial interests related to their comments. ASCRS continued from page 1 Dr. Henderson, incoming president of ASCRS, and Dr. Solomon, outgoing president of ASCRS, both spoke at the ASCRS Opening General Session.

• Cover