| |
Patient Information
What is a Retina Specialist?
What to expect for my first visit
New Patient Forms:
• Patient
Information Form
• HIPPA
& Financial Form
Common Diseases & Treatments
What services we provide
• Diagnostic
Tests
• Treatment
Modalaties
Insurances we accept
Hospitals where we do surgeries
Contact Us
Important Eye Related Websites
|
 |
PATIENT INFORMATION
What is a Retina Specialist?
A retina specialist is a subspecialist within the field
of Ophthalmology. In order to practice in this field the
physician must complete four years of medical school,
followed by four years of residency training in Ophthalmology,
and finally a two year fellowship in Medical and Surgical
Retina. This extensive training process gives retina specialists
the specific knowledge needed to care for your eyes and
vision, as well as an understanding of the interplay between
systemic diseases and their effects on the retina.
What to expect for my first
visit
We perform a complete dilated examination of both eyes.
The dilation will make reading books difficult for several
hours. Your far vision will not be affected, so you can
still drive. Please bring sunglasses because the dilation
will make your eyes sensitive to light. Please allot 1
to 2 hours for your initial visit. Depending on your medical
history and physical examination, the doctor may order
diagnostic tests in our office. After the tests are done,
the doctor will go over them with you and discuss your
diagnosis and treatment options. Please bring your driver’s
license or government issued ID card and your medical
insurance card(s) to our office. There are two simple
forms to fill out for a new patient; you may download
and fill out these forms prior to your appointment:
[Back to top]
What services we provide
You are usually refered to our office by a general ophthalmologist,
optometrist or medical doctor because your doctor suspects
a problem in the back of your eye. You could have a
problem with your vitreous, retina, or macula. Our office
provides comprehensive eye care, including a dilated
fundus exam and imaging studies. We use the latest technology
for your visit, including digital fundus photography,
digital indocyanine green angiography, digital fluorescein
angiography, digital ultrasonography, high definition
spectral domain optical coherence tomography, electronic
medical records, electronic prescribing, and electronic
medical billing.
For your convenience, we use in-office based treatments
when appropriate for the treatment of retinal detachments,
diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and other
vitreo-retinal diseases. We do outpatient microsurgical
procedures when necessary at the leading hospitals and
surgery centers in the Los Angeles area.
| |
|
|
Diagnostic Tests
In order to evaluate your eye condition your doctor
may order a digital fundus photography.
The fundus photograph documents the findings in
the macula, retina, and optic nerve in the posterior
pole of the eye. The digital Indocyanine
green and fluorescein angiography document
the blood flow in the posterior pole of the eye.
After injecting a small amount of indocyanine green
and/or fluorescein dye (similar to food coloring)
into the vein on your arm, photos will be taken
of the back of your eyes over a period of several
minutes. The dye will fill the vessels in the retina
and highlight any areas of abnormal blood flow or
vascular permeability. These photos can help your
doctor evaluate a long list of retinal conditions
including diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions,
age-related macular degeneration, etc.
(PICTURE: normal Fluorescein Angiogram)
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
| (Picture: Fluorescein Angiogram demonstrating
leakage of dye) |
|
|
 |
|
 |
A high definition spectral domain optical
coherence tomography scan (HD-OCT) is a
non-invasive way of imaging the anatomy of your
retina. Analogous to an ultrasound performed using
light instead of sound, the state of the art OCT
machines at Retina Eye Specialists can resolve details
within your retina down to a few millionths of a
meter. These scans are critical in evaluating numerous
retinal conditions including age-related macular
degeneration, epiretinal membranes, vitreo-macular
traction, macular holes, etc.
| (PICTURE: Normal OCT image) |
|
|
(Picture: OCT demonstrating full thickness
Macular Hole)
|
|
 |
Your doctor may also perform an digital
ocular ultrasound as part of your exam.
Similar to many other forms of ultrasound imaging,
the test is performed with only gentle application
of the ultrasound probe to the eyelids. This exam
is a painless means of evaluating the state of the
back of the eye in circumstances where the visualization
of the retina is otherwise limited.
(Picture: Ultrasound of a retinal detachment in
a Diabetic patient)
[Back to top]
Treatment Modalaties
Some examples of treatments that we employ:
Pharmocologic
treatments:
•Intravitreal injections for the treatment
of diabetic macular edema
•Subtenon injections for treatment of uveitis
•Intravitreal injections for the treatment
of exudative(wet) age-related macular degeneration:
Lucentis, Avastin, and Stereoids
•Anti-oxidant vitamin therapy for prevention
of age-related macular degeneration
Laser treatments:
•Focal laser treatment for diabetic macular
edema
•Focal laser for macular edema from vein
oclusion
•Focal laser treatment of retinal tears and
lattice degeneration
•Pan-retinal photocoagulation for the treatment
of proliferative diabetic retinopathy
•Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of
exudative(wet) age-related macular degeneration
Surgical treatments:
•Vitrectomy for the treatment of proliferative
diabetic retinopathy
•Vitrectomy and scleral buckling surgery
for the treatment of retinal detachments
•Vitrectomy and membrane peeling for the
treatment of macular holes and macular puckering
•Radioactive plaque therapy for the treatment
of intraocular tumors |
| |
|
[Back to top]
What insurances we accept
Our office’s aim is to provide the best quality
care to all our patients. We accept a wide range of
insurance. We also provide discounts for cash paying
patients.
The types of insurance that we accept include:
• Medicare with or without supplements
• Medi-Cal
• All POS insurance - we will
use the PPO portion
• All PPO insurance in or out
of network
• Referral from Worker's Compensation insurance
We are an in-network provider for the following PPO
insurance companies:
• Aetna
• Anthem Blue Cross
• Blue Shield of California
• Cigna
• Health Net
• Interplan Health Group
• Pacificare Network
• Premier Provider Network, Inc. (PPNI)
• Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
• United Health Care
If you have no insurance, you will be charged the cash
discount price.
If you have a HMO insurance, you will be charged the
cash discount price. We do not accept any HMO insurance
at this time.
[Back to top]
Where we do surgery
Advanced Diagnostic and Surgical Center
1668 South Garfield Ave, Suite 100
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626)308-9000
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
8700 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: Information (310) 4-CEDARS (423-3277)
Huntington Memorial Hospital
100 West California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91109
(626)397-5000
Olympia Medical Center
5900 West Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-5900
(310)657-5900
San Gabriel Valley Medical Center
438 West Las Tunas Drive
P.O. Box 1507
San Gabriel, CA 91778
(626) 289-5454
University of Southern California University Hospital
1500 San Pablo Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323)442-8500
[Back to top]
Important Eye Related
Websites
American Academy of Ophthalmology-
the premier organization of eye M.D.s in North America.
Eye
Care America- a public service foundation for eye care in America.
MedlinePlus-
a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine covering
information on health related topics.
National
Eye Institute- one of the centers of research in
ophthalmology, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Ophsource
- a central place for the important journals in
ophthalmology online.
[Back to top]
|
|
