Breaking the Bundle
Re: "Should You Bundle Your Cataract Supplies?" (March, page 80). I congratulate Nurse Stancel on her position regarding the strategy of purchasing her cataract supplies separate from the phaco equipment and IOL. As the saying goes, "There is no free lunch." The idea that manufacturers of phaco equipment are going to provide this technology at no charge without including finance charges associated with the value of a $50,000-plus piece of equipment does not make good financial sense unless the cost of the IOLs, viscoelastic and packs are inflated to cover this cost. It is very simple to arrange for an equipment lease that is structured to allow for little or no down payment and can be written off as an operating expense. (We do not have a vested interest in any leasing companies.)

With outpatient surgery centers being squeezed from all sides, it is important for ASC managers to work hard at uncovering every avenue of potential cost containment. "Breaking the bundle" apart into its individual components is one smart way to do this. There will always be the implied threat that other components (the IOL, for example) will increase in cost as other parts of the bundle are taken away; our experience is that the IOL and phaco equipment representatives do not follow through on this.

We have built a successful business for 17 years on the notion that high-quality individual surgical items can be purchased more economically than in a bundle for low- or high-volume centers.

Ron Clarke
Director of Sales & Marketing
Cytosol Ophthalmics, Inc.
Lenoir, N.C.
"[email protected]")