Why is the Optos Retinal Exam required on all routine exams?

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Many eye problems can develop without you knowing. You may not even notice any change in your sight. But, diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal tears or detachments, and other health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure can be seen with a thorough exam of the retina.  Our doctors believe that viewing the retina to assess ocular and general health is so crucial that as the standard of care in our practice, our doctors want a digital retinal image taken at every annual visit. 

 

An Optomap Retinal Exam provides:

• A scan to show a healthy eye or detect disease.

• A view of the retina, giving your doctor a more detailed view than he/she can get by other means.

• The opportunity for you to view and discuss the optomap image of your eye with your doctor at the time of your exam.

• A permanent record for your file, which allows us to view your images each year to look for changes.  

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Can you explain what the Optos Retinal Exam is?

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Optos imaging is fast, painless and comfortable. Nothing touches your eye at any time. It is suitable for the whole family. To have the scan, you simply look into the device one eye at a time (like looking through a keyhole) and you will see a comfortable flash of light to let you know the image of your retina has been taken.  Under normal circumstances, dilation drops might not even be necessary after having an Optos scan taken, but your doctor will decide if your pupils need to be dilated depending on your conditions and exam findings. 

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Is it better to be dilated or to have the Optos Retinal Exam?

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Both tests give the doctor the ability to detect vision threatening eye conditions, but for routine examination, Optos is preferred in our practice due to its lack of side effects such as blurry vision and light sensitivity.  A dilated eye exam still may be recommended depending on the results of the imaging or your case history.

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Why doesn’t my insurance cover the Optos Retinal Exam?

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The Optomap Retinal Exam uses state of the art technology not available at most offices, therefore most insurances cover a large portion of the cost but not the entire cost.

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Do you have any examples of conditions detected by an Optos Retinal Exam in your office?

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Click here to see examples of conditions detected with Optos imaging on patients that presented to our office for annual eye exams.

 

My child is very young and healthy.  Is it really necessary to check the retina at this age?

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Yes.  Many eye diseases have no symptoms, but they can be detected in children using the Optos retinal scan.  Having a baseline scan at a young age is very valuable for future exams to compare findings each year.  Traditional examination techniques require more cooperation from the patient for the doctor to view the entire retina than Optos imaging, and many children find Optos imaging much less challenging to cooperate with.

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