Co-Management

What is Co-Management?

Our patients deserve the best eye care – and sometimes that means working outside our Eye Care Centers as well as within them. It also means making sure that every patient gets the exact services and advice that they need, while allowing them to work with the specialists they know and prefer.

That is why the Kleiman Evangelista Eye Centers of Texas offer co-management options. Co-management is a particular form of cooperation between our operating surgeons and doctors, and healthcare providers from another organization. It is defined and standardized by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, among others. This allows for easier transfer of data, scheduling of appropriate appointments, and overall better care, especially for those who may be new to our Eye Care Centers.

How Co-Management Works for the Patient

Patients don’t have to worry about organizing co-management themselves, as our Eye Centers handle the necessary steps depending on the services needed.

Co-management generally starts out with a patient needing an important vision procedure that requires one of our surgeons or other specialists. Then our Eye Center and the partner healthcare organizations (such as primary physicians that the patient may have first seen about the problem, or outside specialists that may have recommended surgery) reach out to each other.

Together, we form a plan that includes all necessary steps, from preoperative counseling to surgery and any necessary aftercare appointments. This plan allows us to arrange appointments and schedule important events in ways that work best for the patient.

Throughout this plan, data can be exchanged between our Eye Care Center and other healthcare organizations according to rigorous standards that ensure that patient health data remains private and protected.

There are also benefits for the doctors who want to partner using co-management plans, including the ability to increase the services they can offer patients, and the ability to learn about the latest surgical advances or availability solutions.

What Doctors Can Expect from Co-Management

If you are a doctor who is interested in partnering with our Eye Centers via co-management, it’s important to understand how responsibilities will be divided between our Centers and your own organization. While individual plans may vary, generally co-management requires doctors to provide the following services:

Educate patients on the benefits of co-management for their individual case.
Refer the most appropriate candidates, who have requested co-management, for cataract or refractive surgery.
Counsel patients about their options, what to expect from surgery, expected results, etc.
When necessary, perform manifest and cycloplegic refractions prior to procedures.
Arrange for a consultation with one of our surgeons about preoperative use of trial lens or contact lens, as necessary.
Monitor patient’s post-operation with appropriate frequency and provide data on their progress and any concerns to our Eye Care Centers in a timely manner.
Schedule follow-up meetings with patients to review their post-op vision, current refractive corrections, and any future needs or evaluations.

Our Eye Care Centers, meanwhile, will provide these services:

Recommendations and information on our surgery options for referred candidates
Managing the transfer of patients back to your practice for any ongoing care needs. This may take place when patients are stable after a surgery, or when postoperative services schedules at our Eye Centers are completed.
Scheduling any additional post-op appointments
Continuing to reach out at intervals for updates on the patient’s care

Next Steps

In any partnership, effective communication is the key to success. If you’re interested in partnering with Kleiman Evangelista Eye Centers, please contact us for additional information about the protocols and guidelines for effectively co-managing surgical patients.

We look forward to partnering with you to deliver outstanding care to your patients.

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