80021838: 22nd Annual Current Concepts in Ophthalmology - Baltimore

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Statement of Need

The fear of blindness is second only to cancer as a major concern of Americans. Studies sponsored by Prevent Blindness America indicate that the cost of visual impairment is approximately $68 billion in the United States, including loss of income, dependent care, increased risk of falls, and depressions. This number is expected to increase to $110 billion in the year 2020.

Visual impairment of blindness now affects 3.3 million patients over the age of forty and this number is expected to rise to 5.5 million persons by the year 2020. Macular degeneration, the leading cause of visual impairment in the United States, affects over 10% of patients over sixty years of age. New forms of therapy for macular degeneration have been found to reduce the progression of this disease in up to 90% of affected patients. The cost of this new therapy (Vascular Inhibitory Factors injected into the eye) is estimated to double the health care expenfditure for elderly American's eye care from $9 billion a year to $18 billion a year.

With the aging of the American population, it is imperative that ophthalmologists remain updated on the advances in cost effective prevention, dianosis and managemnt of ocular diseases, as these forms of new therapy for eye diseases will put a strain on the health care budget.

Course Description

This course focuses on clinical use and medical issues important to the constantly evolving practice of ophthalmology, with a specific conentrtion on the most advanced medical and surgical treatment options for glaucoma, retina, anterior segment, and refractive surgery. Expert faculty will present the latest developments in the managemnt of ocular conditions through a combination of didactic and highly interactive dscussion sessions. Ample time will be reserved to pursue case studies with registrants.

Workshop and didactic lecture time has also been devoted to the evolution of ophthalmology in the business practice setting. Financial benchmarking, coding and reimbursement, office management and budget analysis issues will be addressed amongst the group and on a one-to-one basis.

Talks

Policy On Speaker And Provider Disclosure

It is the policy of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that the speaker and provider disclose real or apparent conflicts of interest relating to the topics of this educational activity, and also disclose discussions of unlabeled/unapproved uses of drugs or devices during their presentation(s). Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine OCME has established policies in place that will identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to this educational activity. Detailed disclosure will be made in the activity handout materials.