WESTCHASE, Fla. — A first-of-its-kind retina health care clinic is opening Tuesday morning at the CVS in Westchase.
Network Eye is the Nation's first "subspecialty" eye clinic to open inside a major retailer.
The clinic will specialize in those at risk for diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration which are two leading causes for blindness.
The company hopes making this kind of exam more accessible to people will help.
"The problem is, that's when you really need to do it because, by the time you start losing your vision, it's too late. So what we've tried to do between our clinic at CVS, and also our mobile unit is to become much more accessible and friendly to go into communities to educate people to let them know why you need an eye exam," Steven Wisch, Co-Founder of Network Eye said. "And if you have the take the exam, and you have pathology for diabetic retinopathy, why it's important to get treated on an ongoing basis, so you can prevent the onset of blindness."
The exams are simple and results will be available in less than five minutes.
"So when you come to us first, for the screening, if you have diabetes, it's actually very simple. It's an artificial intelligence device, which you put your eyes in, and literally in less than five minutes will tell you whether or not you have diabetic retinopathy. So there's no dialysis of the eyes, which is what people currently do. Currently, people have to get their eyes dilated, you get a photograph of the back of your eye gets sent out to a lab, and you get a result back in 24 to 48 hours. We do it in less than five minutes, no dilation of the eye," explained Wisch.
"Once we get the result, if there is pathology, we educate the patient about the importance of now seeing one of our doctors and going ahead for treatment," Wisch said. "And what's interesting is to do it inside a CVS is much more friendly. You can come with a caregiver, your mom, your dad, sister, brother, or son or daughter, whomever it might be, and the caregiver and you could go shopping in the CVS for scripts for things in the front of the store to go to the Minute Clinic or health hub to take care of other health care needs. So it's a much more inviting environment and many people don't like to visit their doctor. And it's much easier to do it in a friendly setting in your local retailer and in this case, CVS."
Network Eye hopes to expand to more facilities across the Country. Click here to find out more about them.
