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How UK HealthCare Advanced Eye Care Helps People With Low Vision · UK HealthCast

• 0:05
  Amanda Wilde (Host): Welcome to UK Health Cast, a podcast
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  presented by UK healthcare.
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  Today we're focusing on eyecare because eye health is critically
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  important to overall health.
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  Eyecare and Low Vision Services are available through UK Healthcare Advanced
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  Eyecare, and we'll talk about how they can help you and how to access
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  those services as well With guests from UK Healthcare, advanced Eyecare,
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  optometrist and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Courtney Couch and
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  Optometrist Alexis Showalter Darcy.
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  I'm Amanda Wilde, your host, and welcome to you all.
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  So good to have you here, Alexis.
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  I am going to start.
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  With you.
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  For a person who is newly diagnosed with permanent vision loss, what's the first
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  step they should take to access services?
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  Alexis Showalter D’Arsie, OD, FAAO: Yes.
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  I think the big first step is to communicate with their ophthalmologist
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  that gave them the diagnosis about a referral to low vision services.
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  low vision providers are harder to come by, but we are
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  fortunate enough at UK to have.
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  Four, two of us go to the Georgetown location in Kentucky, And then, the one
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  goes to Turf Land location in Kentucky.
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  And then we have Dr.
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  Couch in Ashland, which helps serves the Eastern Kentucky population.
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  so having that resource to be able to get that referral in order for
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  us to kind of bridge the gap to get the referrals to the Kentucky Office
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  of the Blind, the Bluegrass Council for the Blind and other community,
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  Organizations around the state as well.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): So Courtney, to you, what are the biggest barriers that prevent
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  people from utilizing low vision services?
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  Courtney Couch, OD: It's pretty common for someone with low vision to have to
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  rely on someone else for transportation.
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  So oftentimes the first barrier is being able to get to the appointment
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  and where they need to go.
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  another barrier would be financial.
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  So often times, low vision devices aren't covered by insurance, and depending on
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  the device, that can be pretty pricey.
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  So we may find something that works great for them, but the
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  funds just aren't here to cover it.
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  there's several different resources and oftentimes we can
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  find ways to help the patient get the devices that they may need.
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  for example, if a patient's a veteran, typically we can get in
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  contact with VA and they can help the patient get what they need.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): and how do you coordinate care with a person's primary
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  ophthalmologist or retina specialist to ensure nothing falls through the cracks?
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  Alexis.
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  Alexis Showalter D’Arsie, OD, FAAO: Yeah.
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  we are very fortunate at UK as well to have such a great working
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  relationship with our ophthalmologist.
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  so our low vision clinic is on their radar and they're very good about.
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  Referring patient's to us at the Low Vision Clinics.
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  additionally through Epic, we are able to access the patient's records, from
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  the ophthalmologist visits And then.
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  if they're coming from an outside ophthalmologist, outside of uk, we
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  could request records and they're usually pretty good about faxing over
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  records so we can see what the patient's diagnosis is, what is their starting
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  vision and how we can move forward.
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  They will sometimes even give us a little bit more information about
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  what the patient may be struggling with already, so we have an idea.
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  Going into that exam, what we can do And what our plan is to, get them the
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  goals and reach the goals that they need.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): So you really have a built-in.
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  Powerful structure for coordinating care in a low vision service setting.
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  Courtney, how do you define success for a patient?
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  Is it a number on a chart or how do you look at that?
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  Courtney Couch, OD: For a patient with low vision success definitely
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  is not a number on a chart.
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  it would be great if we can get everyone a little bit closer to that perfect
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  2020 with the device, but really what we aim for is functionality.
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  So what I typically start off a exam with.
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  Is, what are your goals for your vision?
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  Meaning what would you like to be able to do with your vision that you're
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  really struggling with right now?
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  a common answer typically is, I wanna be able to read again or I want to
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  be able to watch TV a little easier.
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  Or maybe a hobby that they haven't been able to do since
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  their vision started to decline.
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  So we take those goals and trial different devices to see if we
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  can find something that may make that a little bit easier for them.
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  It would be great if we can get everyone to 2020, but what we really
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  aim for, like I said, is functionality.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): Well, Alexis, can you walk us through the rehabilitation
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  plan and how it's customized based on a patient's specific goals, like
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  the kind Courtney you just mentioned.
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  Alexis Showalter D’Arsie, OD, FAAO: Absolutely.
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  This actually transitions really well from, Courtney's answer.
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  but I will start out asking the patient their ADLs or activities of daily living.
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  I kind of go through the same list that are very common, such as mobility.
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  They have trouble seeing the tv, reading bills, writing
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  checks, are they light sensitive?
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  Glare is a problem and based on their answers And what their goals
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  are, we will tackle what their goals are, throughout the exam.
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  Typically, we will start with an updated glasses prescription,
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  for distance And for near.
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  depending on what the starting vision is, And we do that through a trial
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  frame refraction, which essentially means the patient is able to move
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  their head around as needed, around any potential blurry spots in their vision.
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  instead of being stuck behind the traditional forter like you're
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  probably used to at the eye doctor.
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  And then we go into trialing devices that we may think would be best for.
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  The patient and their goals and achieving those activities of daily living.
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  And then we talk about the resources at the very end and make those
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  referrals, to the Office of the Blind or the Bluegrass Council of the Blind,
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  and give them all that information printed out, easily accessible for
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  them as they leave the exam as well.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): It's such an amazing service to improve
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  quality of life so drastically.
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  Courtney, if a patient's insurance won't cover a specific device or
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  service, what alternative resources do you typically point them toward?
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  Is there a safety net in place?
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  Courtney Couch, OD: So, like you said, insurance typically
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  doesn't cover low vision devices, which is really unfortunate.
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  but there are several resources out there.
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  like Dr.
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  Showalter was mentioning, the Kentucky Department of the Blind, each state has
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  a Department of the Blind, that can help each patient with different resources.
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  So there's several resources out there, but just one for an example
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  is the Kentucky Talking Book Library.
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  it's a free library surface that.
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  Helps individuals that can't typically read traditional print.
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  It's a great resource.
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  there's also several other, apps that you can have on your phone
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  that you can download for free.
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  almost everyone has a smartphone or a computer, and those also have
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  built-in aids to help people with low vision, like, increased text
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  magnification or changing the contrast.
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  It seems like every day they're coming out with new things to help patient's
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  with low vision, which is great.
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  Amanda Wilde (Host): Well, Courtney, Alexis, This is very impressive.
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  Thank you both for sharing all this information on the comprehensive services
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  you provide and especially how to use and resources to access those services And
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  for all you do to promote vision care.
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  Courtney Couch is optometrist and assistant professor of
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  ophthalmology And Alexis Showalter.
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  Darcy is Optometrist at UK Healthcare Advanced Eyecare.
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  For more information, visit UK healthcare.com.
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  And if you enjoyed this podcast, please share it on your social channels
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  and check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest.
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  Thanks for listening to UK Health Cast, a podcast from UK Healthcare.