Ophthalmologists may be able to safely cut back on having anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists routinely at bedside during cataract surgery. Researchers examined Medicare claims for 36,652 patients who had cataract surgery and found the use of anesthesia care was substantially higher for cataract surgery when compared to patients undergoing other elective, low-risk outpatient procedures—such as cardiac catheterization or screening colonoscopy. However, they found that these patients experienced fewer systemic complications—such as myocardial infarction or stroke—than did patients undergoing the other low-risk procedures. These results held true even in cases where anesthesia experts were not present for the cataract surgery, suggesting...