Premium IOL Co-Management    

Four out of five cataract diagnoses are made by an optometrist. The long-term relationship you have established with your patient makes you the most logical eye-care professional to introduce lens options during cataract consultation. Many of your patients are seeking a refractive outcome and now have options that were not available in the past. When hearing lens choices for the first time in our office, it can become overwhelming and confusing to your patient. Patients look to you for a recommendation in choosing their surgeon and trust your guidance on the different IOLs offered.

Capital Eye Consultant's web page was updated several years ago to include patient information on premium IOLs. If you think a patient is a good candidate for, say, a toric lens, please feel free to use the CEC website as a resource. Currently, we use Alcon lens products and therefore the Alcon site is another source of information.

Once you have counselled your patients on their visual goals following cataract surgery and helped to set realistic expectations, the information you provide us can be very helpful in the final decision process. This information includes things such as whether the patient is a soft or hard contact lens wearer, monovision status, and your recommendation based on your understanding of the patient. All of this type of information can be conveyed on a referral form but we are also happy to speak to you by phone.

Capital Eye Consultants maintains a robust co-management relationship with interested doctors. We have a few doctors who provide all 90 days of care, due to their distant location, and for patient convenience. Most of our doctors either provide early post-operative care, which means that they are responsible for the final dilated exam, but the majority provide mid-to-late post-op care which, basically, means that we provide the dilated exam and the patient is returning just for late medical follow-up and refractive care. We also have separate co-management of the ReSTOR multifocal lens outside of the patients' medical insurance. This program requires a contract between our offices.

Capital Eye Consultants remains the leader in cataract co-management in Northern Virginia. If you are not involved in co-management and are new to the area, please give us a call as we would be happy to give you more details on effective ways to manage your patient.

As always, we appreciate the trust and confidence you have in our practices and we welcome your feedback.

James E. Powers OD

       Staar Toric ICL Receives FDA Panel                                Approval 

The FDA Advisory Panel on March 14 2014 voted in favor of the Staar Surgical toric ICL (TICL).   This was a major milestone for Staar Surgical, as the clinical data was collected more than 10 years ago. The non-toric ICL has been approved in the United States since 2005 and has provided incredible outcomes in those patients that are too myopic for LASIK, have thin corneas, irregular corneas, or desire a reversible procedure. Our experience with the product at CEC has been truly amazing.  The Toric ICL has been available in Canada and Europe for many years and has also been providing remarkable uncorrected vision.   The FDA usually takes the Advisory Panel recommendations and makes a final approval within six to twelve months.   Another exciting development with the ICL which should be available in the near future in the toric and non-toric ICL versions, is the KS-Aquaport, which is a .36 mm opening in the central IOL which allows movement of aqueous through the lens. A peripheral iridotomy (PI) will no longer need to be made prior to the placement of the ICL. This will remove an extra step (PI) which takes time for the doctor and patient, and can be uncomfortable and can in unusual cases lead to vision complaints (monocular diplopia, peripheral rays of light)

 John C. Baldinger MD

                    Strange Bedfellows ?

Google recently unveiled a tear -scanning smart contact lens that monitors glucose levels in tears. The contact lens uses a minuscule glucose sensor and a wireless transmitter. The prototype model Google says will take at least 5 years to come to the market. The device, which looks like a typical contact lens, contains two twinkling glitter-specks that are loaded with tens of thousands of miniaturised transistors and is ringed with a hair-thin antenna. Google also has a patent pending for a contact lens with a micro camera and sensors embedded on the surface controlled by blinking, which would enable you to take hands-free pictures and could help the blind navigate the everyday obstacles of the world.. The patent combines ideas from Google Glass smart glasses and  Google's tear-scanning smart contact lenses. The smart-contact-lens patent places sensors in the lens that can look for light, colors, faces, movement and even specific objects.

Perhaps we will be able to rent out our eyeballs as covert security cameras. GPS technology will record exactly where you are and what direction you're facing. Criminals won't know where the cameras are and no one will know if you are taking photographs when you are blinking...a strange new world indeed.

                   CEC Website Update