nimble solutions Partners with the Eye Bank Association of America to Help Surgery Centers Close the Corneal Tissue and Transplant Reimbursement Gap

ASCs supplied by EBAA-member eye banks can now get expert support with managed care contract review, negotiation, and recovery of underpaid transplant claims.

St. Louis, MO – October 27, 2026 – nimble solutions today announced a partnership with the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and its 53 member eye banks nationwide. Eye banks can now refer the ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) they supply to nimble for managed care contract evaluation and negotiation support, focused on a growing challenge in ophthalmic surgery: managed care reimbursement lower than the tissue acquisition cost.

The clinical work is done. The payment often isn’t.

By the time corneal tissue arrives at an ASC, the patient has been evaluated, the tissue has been matched and prepared, and the surgery is scheduled. The financial risk often emerges afterward, when a Medicare Advantage or commercial plan bundles the tissue into the procedure payment or reimburses far less than the tissue fee. Many ASCs can’t absorb that loss, causing them to underpay their eye bank or to scale back corneal transplants.

Support from the contract to the claim

Most surgery centers don’t have a dedicated managed care contracting team, and corneal tissue reimbursement is rarely negotiated well without one. nimble works with ASCs to:

• Evaluate payer contracts to see how corneal tissue and other procedures are handled, including bundling, carve-outs, and rates that fall below cost.
• Negotiate stronger terms so tissue reimbursement reflects actual tissue fees.
• Recover revenue already left behind. Through its audit program and revenue cycle management services, nimble helps identify filed claims that were underpaid or never paid.

“Surgery centers across the country are finding it harder to offer these transplants when reimbursement falls short of cost,” said Kelley Blair, CEO of nimble solutions. “Our expertise is making sure managed care agreements work for all parties in a fair and reasonable way.”

EBAA’s member eye banks are nonprofit organizations that obtain, prepare, and distribute ocular tissue for transplant, research, and education. They supply tissue for more than 85,000 sight-restoring corneal transplants each year.

“When reimbursement doesn’t cover costs, eye banks feel the same financial and operational pressures as the physicians and surgery centers they serve,” said Kevin Corcoran, President and CEO of the Eye Bank Association of America. “We’re excited to work with nimble solutions to respond to this enduring challenge.”