Cataract Treatment

What to know

  • VEHSS includes indicators of cataract treatment from survey self-report, payment claims in administrative claims databases, and medical record information in the IRIS Registry of electronic health records (EHR).
  • VEHSS reports the percent of diagnosed cataract patients who received at least one included treatment during the year of observation.
  • Claims and EHR-based prevalence estimates are based on a denominator of cataract patients who had a visit that included a cataract diagnosis. Prevalence from self-report surveys are based on a denominator of all respondents in the sample.
image of surgeon during a cataract operation

Self-report: ever had cataract surgery

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) include questions asking whether the respondent ever had cataract surgery.

Dataset

Description

Question Text

Variable name(s)

Sample

Response options

NHANES

Percentage of people who had a cataract operation

{Have you/Has SP} ever had a cataract operation?

VIQ070, VIQ071

Ages 20-150

1 Yes, 2 No, 7 Don’t know / Not sure, 9 Refused

NHIS – Adult Module

Percentage of adults who ever had cataract surgery

Have you ever had cataract surgery?

VIMCSURG

Ages 18+ ever had cataracts

1 Yes, 2 No, 7 Refused, 9 Don’t know

Explore Data in the VEHSS Application‎

The data sources available for this category include NHANES and NHIS (Adult module).

Cataract surgery procedure

VEHSS reports the percentage of people with diagnosed cataract who had a treatment claim in claims and IRIS Registry EHR data among patients with a diagnosis of cataract anytime during the year of observation. Cataract surgery is based on the following procedure codes:

Subgroup

Included Procedures

Procedure Codes

Cataract surgery

Removal of secondary membranous cataract (opacified posterior lens capsule and/or anterior hyaloid) with corneo-scleral section, with or without iridectomy (iridocapsulotomy, iridocapsulectomy)

66830

Removal of lens material; aspiration technique, 1 or more stages

66840

Removal of lens material; phacofragmentation technique (mechanical or ultrasonic) (e.g., phacoemulsification), with aspiration

66850

Removal of lens material; pars plana approach, with or without vitrectomy

66852

Removal of lens material; intracapsular

66920

Removal of lens material; intracapsular, for dislocated lens

66930

Removal of lens material; extracapsular (other than 66840, 66850, 66852)

66940

Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1-stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (e.g., irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification)

66982

Intracapsular cataract extraction with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure)

66983

Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (e.g., irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification)

66984

Under incision procedures on the lens of the eye

66821

Posterior chamber intraocular lens

V2632

Astigmatism correcting function of intraocular lens

V2787

Presbyopia correcting function of intraocular lens

V2788

Explore Data in the VEHSS Application‎

The data sources available for this category include Medicare (default), IRIS Registry, Medicaid, and MarketScan commercial insurance claims.