Solving the ASC triple question: volume, cost and efficiency in modern eye care
Eye care surgery schedules are tight and the margins are even smaller. Faced with rising costs, increased surgical volume, and the proliferation of inefficient technologies, ophthalmologists must overcome constant obstacles to provide the best possible outcomes for their patients while maintaining financial stability.
As these pressures intensify, the gap between growing patient demand and shrinking labor supply continues to widen. At the same time, increasing caseloads are exposing flaws in traditional workflows—ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) rely on patchwork systems rather than precise processes.
Ultimately, for eye care ASCs to be successful, providers must master the critical triad of managing volume, cost and efficiency through integrated systems and strategic workflows.
surge in demand
More than 4 million cataract surgeries are performed each year in the United States. Considering that cataracts affect 70% of people over the age of 80, the number of cataracts is expected to surge as the U.S. population ages, with the 65 and older age group predicted to account for more than 20% of the total U.S. population by 2030.
Driven by an aging population, demand for medical eye care is expected to grow by more than 25% between 2020 and 2030, equivalent to approximately 15 million additional exams.
While this may present opportunities for ophthalmologists, the problem is that staffing levels have not kept pace. In 2020, approximately 4.2 million cataract surgeries were performed with approximately 16,000 ophthalmologists, but according to an industry report, an aging population will require 5.6 million cataract surgeries with only 16,500 ophthalmologists by 2030. Assuming that ophthalmologists perform an average of 400 cataract surgeries per year, these projections indicate a shortage of 3,000 specialists to meet the demand for cataract surgery alone—not including other age-related eye care procedures.
These staffing shortages compound the challenge of handling high volume of surgeries, leading to bottlenecks, burnout, and reduced surgical volume while emphasizing the need for more streamlined processes.
Rising costs
Like other medical expenses, the cost of eye surgery continues to rise. For example, the average cost of cataract surgery at ASC has increased from $1,587 to $1,735 since 2021, according to CMS claims data.
Although CMS increased ASC reimbursement rates in 2025, the 2.9% increase still lags behind medical cost inflation, which has been rising by an average of 15-30%. Even with private insurance coverage, the cost of ASC eye surgery can range from less than $1,000 in some states to more than $5,000 in others.
These differences force facilities to be more financially savvy. As high costs continue to strain ASC budgets, providers must balance operational efficiency with strategic revenue management to maintain profitability.
Simplify inefficiencies
Unfortunately, many ophthalmology ASCs are simply ill-equipped to handle the volatile combination of growing demand and rising costs.
Traditional workflows often consist of paper forms, spreadsheets and offline systems that require hours of manual data entry. If your employees spend 8 to 10 hours per week entering information at an average hourly rate of $35, this manual labor can cost $18,000 over the course of a year and create an administrative burden that can lead to errors and delays in the process.
These obstacles can add up quickly. Administrative delays can lead to cancellations, and even one lost cataract surgery per week can cost $2,000 or more in lost revenue, totaling up to $100,000 per year. Instead, by addressing bottlenecks and adding one to two cases per surgery day (an average of $2,000 per case), ASCs could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue.
Power your ASC
By automating redundant manual tasks to streamline surgical coordination, ASCs can remove these barriers to optimize their operations. The best solutions to address the triple barriers of volume, cost, and efficiency have the following characteristics:
integrated system Connect practice management, diagnostic imaging, surgical planning and billing workflows into one seamless EHR platform. Consolidating data into a centralized center speeds documentation and reduces errors and delays, streamlining the entire process from patient scheduling all the way to claims processing.
Professional support Tools designed to meet the unique needs of eye care specialties. Ophthalmic ASCs are too complex to entrust their nuanced workflows to general-purpose technologies that are not designed for optimal patient outcomes.
Workflow automation This reduces the burden on staff and makes complex surgical coordination effortless by reducing the number of clicks and enabling seamless data sharing. Standardized workflows allow staff to focus on patient care rather than paperwork, improving everyone’s experience.
real-time reporting It automates audit trails, tracks surgical outcomes and generates compliance reports that meet quality measures and regulatory requirements. In addition to streamlining reward payments, this visibility is critical for performance benchmarking and process improvement.
As surgical volume and costs continue to rise, more effective coordination is key to keeping patients and profits flowing smoothly through the ASC. By adopting integrated ophthalmology-specific systems for practice management, providers can support sustainable growth without compromising quality of care.
Photo: KAREN BLEIER/AFP, Getty Images
Casi Nestelroad, JM, MBA, BSHA, is vice president of product management at Sightview, the only electronic health record and practice management partner dedicated solely to eye care. She is an experienced product and operations leader known for driving strategic product development and execution across the healthcare technology landscape. Her background includes key roles at Nextech, MD Live, and Greenway Health, where she delivered solutions that increased efficiency, enhanced provider workflows, and improved patient care.
At Sightview, Nestelroad applies her deep expertise in professional EHRs to solve customer pain points and advance a platform purpose-built to meet the needs of optometrists, ophthalmologists and opticians. She guides product strategy, enhances performance, aligns with modern practice needs, and supports continued growth for practices of all sizes. Her work helps eye care organizations connect clinical care and revenue operations, create more robust workflows and identify opportunities to improve outcomes across the business.
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