Draelos Metabolic Center is First Oklahoma Practice to Implement

Digital Healthcare, a Wake Forest, NC company specializing in sight-saving retinal risk assessment, announced today that Draelos Metabolic Center in Edmond, OK is the first healthcare facility in Oklahoma implementing the Retasure solution to provide retinal imaging risk assessment. The Draelos Metabolic Center specializes in general endocrinology care with a focus on Type I and Type II diabetes, thyroid disease and bariatrics. Matthew T. Draelos, MD is the Center's founder and is assisted by two physician assistants.

Wake Forest, NC (PRWEB) May 6, 2008 -- Digital Healthcare, a Wake Forest, NC company specializing in sight-saving retinal risk assessment, announced today that Draelos Metabolic Center in Edmond, OK is the first healthcare facility in Oklahoma implementing the Retasure solution to provide retinal imaging risk assessment.

Dr. Draelos and his team are already providing excellent services for his diabetic patients and now they can also quickly provide diabetic retinopathy risk assessments using the Retasure solution.

The Draelos Metabolic Center specializes in general endocrinology care with a focus on Type I and Type II diabetes, thyroid disease and bariatrics. Matthew T. Draelos, MD is the Center's founder and is assisted by two physician assistants.

"We are pleased to have Retasure available for Oklahoma diabetics," said Scott Sanner, Senior Vice President, North American Operations of Digital Healthcare. "Dr. Draelos and his team are already providing excellent services for his diabetic patients and now they can also quickly provide diabetic retinopathy risk assessments using the Retasure solution."

"I have been providing diabetic medical care my whole career and have seen the wide variety of serious complications from the disease," said Dr. Draelos. "One of the most serious complications is diabetic retinopathy, which is a leading cause of blindness. Because Retasure can help identify patients with previously undetected eye disease, we are now able to provide more comprehensive care for our diabetic patients."

Dr. Draelos is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and completed his internal Medicine residency and endocrinology fellowship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He also completed a research fellowship at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University. Dr. Draelos is the author of numerous professional papers on diabetes.

The FDA-approved and HEDIS compliant Retasure program provides a simple, affordable, and non-invasive solution that allows physicians to capture their patients' retinal images during a three to five minute procedure without eye dilation. Images are transmitted over a secure, HIPAA compliant network to an accredited reading center. A state-licensed and board certified ophthalmologist reviews the images and results are returned to the original physician within 72 hours. The simplicity of the assessment process is unique in the market and addresses a previously un-met need for one of the nation's largest public health issues.

There are an estimated 21 million diabetic patients in the US, but only about half have any retinal assessments, despite a high risk of diabetic retinopathy. The National Eye Institute indicates diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among working age American adults. More than a million patients worldwide have received a retinal risk assessment using Digital Healthcare software.

About Digital Healthcare
Digital Healthcare is the global leader in retinal risk assessment. They are the world's leading provider of care management programs for diabetic retinopathy. Their award-winning MS-HUG technology is used by leading hospitals and research centers including University Hospitals Case Medical Center at Case Western Reserve University, The Wilmer Eye Institute at The Johns Hopkins University and the United States Military. Digital Healthcare's Retasure solution offers several advantages for primary care and endocrinologist physicians and their patients: It can be operated by non-clinicians; it is non-invasive and requires no dilation; it obtains exceptionally high-quality digital images of the retina using a simple-to-operate fundus camera; it returns results quickly to the ordering physicians; and it encourages patient compliance for retinal evaluation and comprehensive eye examinations. For more information, visit www.retasure.com.

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