The impact of managed eye care on use of vision services, vision costs, and patient satisfaction.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the impact of introducing a managed vision benefit program on the use and costs of vision services in a managed care setting and also to assess satisfaction with those services after the program was introduced.

Methods: Utilization and costs were compared for two groups of patients. The comparison group (n = 36,168) included all patients enrolled for 18 months before implementation of the managed eye-care plan. The study group (n = 23,816) included those enrolled for 18 months following its implementation. Medical claims, survey, and administrative data were used to evaluate study outcomes.

Results: The overall use of vision care was similar before and after the introduction of the managed eye-care programs, with 24% of each group receiving at least one vision service during the 18-month period. Nevertheless, an increase in the use of routine eye-care services and a decrease in medical eye-care services were observed following program implementation. The overall cost of providing eye-care services to patients decreased from 1.86 dollars to 1.36 dollars per member per month after the program started, largely owing to a reduction in spending associated with medical eye-care services. More than 90% of patients surveyed were satisfied with their vision care provided by the program.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that introducing routine and medical managed eye-care programs in a managed care setting allows for a reduction in medical costs while maintaining access to care and patient satisfaction.