Purpose: To describe and analyse the cost of cataract surgery in four community-run eye clinics in Sweden and also to analyse differences in cost between these clinics.
Methods: The average cost of a cataract surgery episode was calculated including one pre-operative visit, the surgery itself and the post-operative visits. Included in the analysis were the costs of disposables, personnel, rent, depreciation, general anaesthesia, bed days and education. Excluded were the costs of complications and overhead costs.
Results: The average cost for one cataract surgery episode was 5052/6915 SEK (1 Euro = 8.57 SEK) with a variation from 4436/6202 to 6130/8293 between the clinics. The lower sum represents a minimum cost of personnel, the higher sum a maximum cost.
Conclusion: A large variation in costs of cataract surgery was found in four providers of cataract surgery. Nearly all clinics studied had one or more areas with much higher costs than average.