Public funding for private for-profit centres and access to cataract surgery by patient socioeconomic status: an Ontario population-based study.

Background: Public funding of cataract surgery provided in private, for-profit surgical centres increased to help mitigate surgical backlogs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. We sought to compare the socioeconomic status of patients who underwent cataract surgery in not-for-profit public hospitals with those who underwent this surgery in private for-profit surgical centres and to evaluate whether differences in access by socioeconomic status decreased after the infusion of public funding for private, for-profit centres.

Methods: We conducted a population-based study of all cataract operations in Ontario, Canada, between January 2017 and March 2022.

Evolution of first-line glaucoma therapy, 2007-2018: a population-based analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term evolution of first-line glaucoma therapy (FLGT) initiated by ophthalmologists and optometrists.

Design: Retrospective population-based study using validated provincial health care databases.

Participants: 194,759 Ontario residents, 66 years of age or older, who received FLGT between 2007 and 2018.

The ophthalmic surgical backlog associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based and microsimulation modelling study.

Background: Jurisdictions worldwide ramped down ophthalmic surgeries to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, creating a global surgical backlog. We sought to predict the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the timely delivery of non-emergent ophthalmology sub-specialty surgical care in Ontario.

Methods: This is a microsimulation modelling study.

Clinical features of endophthalmitis clusters after cataract surgery and practical recommendations to mitigate risk: systematic review.

Intraocular transmission of exogenous pathogens in cataract surgery can lead to endophthalmitis. This review evaluates the features of endophthalmitis clusters secondary to pathogen transmission in cataract surgery. Articles reporting on pathogen transmission in cataract surgery were identified via searches of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL, and a total of 268 eyes from 24 studies were included.

University of Toronto's redesigned ophthalmology curriculum and eye dissection lab.

Objective: To present a multifaceted approach to ophthalmology undergraduate medical education and to assess the efficacy of an eye dissection laboratory in enhancing medical student learning.

Design: Curriculum review, validation, and student feedback evaluations.

Participants: Year 2 medical students enrolled in the University of Toronto's Doctor of Medicine Program.

Surgical Outcomes among Focused versus Diversified Cataract Surgeons.

Purpose: Narrowly focused surgical practice has become increasingly common in ophthalmology and may have an effect on surgical outcomes. Previous research evaluating the influence of surgical focus on cataract surgical outcomes has been lacking. This study aimed to evaluate whether surgeons' exclusive surgical focus on cataract surgery influences the risk of cataract surgical adverse events.

Exclusive cataract surgical focus among ophthalmologists: a population-based analysis.

Objective: An important potential unintended consequence of the growth of surgical subspecialization is the narrowing of surgical practice among comprehensive ophthalmologists. We investigated trends in the narrowing of surgical practice and the exclusive provision of cataract surgery.

Design: Population-based, retrospective study.

Visual impairment and the Ontario Disability Support Program.

Objectives: To report on the 2003-2013 trends in sociodemographics, financial support, and use of vision care benefits by visually impaired (VI) individuals in the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Participants: ODSP recipients with a VI diagnosis from 2003 to 2013.

Cataract Surgery Quality and Capacity.

Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed in most developed countries, including Canada. Nuanced, evidence-driven policies are needed to ensure appropriate access to this sight-saving operation while maintaining the highest standards in quality of care. The Vision Health Services Research Program at Queen's University, in partnership with members of the Ontario Provincial Vision Task Force, has developed evidence to inform policies aimed at optimizing both access and quality across the eye care spectrum.

Evolution in the Risk of Cataract Surgical Complications among Patients Exposed to Tamsulosin: A Population-Based Study.

Purpose: Tamsulosin is associated with intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS), an important risk factor for complications during cataract surgery. Significant efforts have been made to increase awareness of the risks associated with tamsulosin, and educational initiatives have fostered the uptake of technical adjustments to decrease adverse event rates among tamsulosin-exposed patients. However, the effectiveness of these efforts at the population level has not been studied.

Association of Cataract Surgical Outcomes With Late Surgeon Career Stages: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Importance: Evidence suggests that the quality of some aspects of care provided by physicians may decrease during their late career stage. However, to our knowledge, data regarding the association of advancing surgeon career phase with cataract surgical outcomes have been lacking.

Objective: To investigate whether an increase in cataract surgical adverse events occurs during later surgeon career stages.

New Surgeon Outcomes and the Effectiveness of Surgical Training: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Purpose: Reports have questioned the technical proficiency of newly graduating surgeons. However, objective data supporting these concerns are limited. Surgical outcomes among recent graduates are an important indicator of residency programs' ability to graduate surgeons who are ready to meet the needs of their patients.

Effect of cataract surgery volume constraints on recently graduated ophthalmologists: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Across Canada, graduates from several medical and surgical specialties have recently had difficulty securing practice opportunities, especially in specialties dependent on limited resources such as ophthalmology. We aimed to investigate whether resource constraints in the health care system have a greater impact on the volume of cataract surgery performed by recent graduates than on established physicians.

Methods: We used population-based administrative data from Ontario for the period Jan.

Drug-prescribing patterns among optometrists and nonophthalmologist physicians at a tertiary care centre in Kingston, Ontario.

Objective: To report on patterns of optometry prescribing and adherence to prescribing regulations at a tertiary care ophthalmology centre.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Participants: All new referrals from optometrists and other health care professionals to the emergency eye care service (n = 1965) between July 2011 and June 2012, as well as optometry referrals to 2 subspecialty services (glaucoma [n = 71] and cornea [n = 212]).

Strabismus surgical subspecialization: a population-based analysis.

Importance: The growing complexity of medical and surgical care has resulted in increasing subspecialization. To date, data have been lacking regarding the degree to which subspecialization has affected the provision of strabismus surgical services. This gap is important to address given the implications for health care human resources planning and educational programs.

Anti-inflammatory therapy after selective laser trabeculoplasty: a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of anti-inflammatory therapy on selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) outcomes.

Design: Randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial.

Participants: Patients with primary open-angle or pseudo-exfoliation glaucoma.

Clinic-based glaucoma care in the era of surgical subspecialization.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of surgeon practice profile on clinic-based glaucoma care.

Design: Population-based study of glaucoma care patterns in Ontario, Canada from 2000-2010.

Methods: Using comprehensive physician services data from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database, ophthalmologists were divided into 5 surgical practice subgroups.

Subspecialization in glaucoma surgery.

Purpose: To evaluate trends in glaucoma surgery subspecialization.

Design: Population-based analysis of incisional glaucoma surgery and laser trabeculoplasty practice patterns among all ophthalmologists in Ontario, Canada, from 1995 through 2010.

Participants: All ophthalmologists in Ontario, Canada, providing universal health care for the provincial population of approximately 12 million.