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Provider Resources

We create tools for eye care providers. These tools can assess, treat, and help manage eye and ocular injuries and conditions. We get our content for our tools from:

  • Our ongoing practice
  • Our advanced research
  • Input from trusted:
    • Experts
    • Clinical communities
    • Academic communities

Our tools focus on preventing, diagnosing, mitigating, treating, and rehabilitating ocular conditions. By doing this, we set new benchmarks in eye care services. We give our providers the latest guidelines and recommendations. We are helping those providers who are helping our service members and veterans. 

Clinical and Practice Recommendations

We develop recommendations for eye care providers. They are:

  • Clinical recommendations
  • Practice recommendations

We get input from subject matter experts. This input help us to develop assessment, treatment, and/or management tools for certain eye conditions. These conditions include eye and vision system diseases.

This Clinical Recommendation helps providers test and rehabilitate patients. Patients with visual field loss caused by traumatic or acquired brain injury. A functional test should be done to guide the design of the rehabilitation program. As with all clinical recommendations, professional judgment should always be used.

Fact Sheet: Assists those who provide eye care and rehabilitation to individuals with visual field loss caused by traumatic or acquired brain injury. This fact sheet provides an overview of the most used rehabilitation treatments for visual field loss.

Reference Cards: A tool that eye care and rehabilitation specialists can carry around with them. They provide descriptions of the CR. Key points include:

  • Algorithm of care along with tables of evaluation questions
  • Functional impact tests and outcome measures
  • Rehabilitation recommendations for each type of visual field loss

This Clinical Recommendation helps providers test, treat, and rehabilitate their patients. These patients have oculomotor dysfunction. This is caused by a traumatic brain injury.  It assumes that an eye care provider did an ocular health exam. The clinical recommendation includes:

  • Tests for detecting TBI-related ocular disorders
  • Tests for diagnosing TBI-related ocular disorders
  • Rehabilitation procedures for guiding treatment options

The clinical screening tool describes a rapid eye care screening method. The tool helps eye care providers identify people who, after a TBI, can get an oculomotor dysfunction. These dysfunctions can affect their:

  • Visual quality of life
  • Post-TBI rehabilitation
  • Return to active duty
  • Return to work
  • Other life activities

There is also a pocket card and video on how to do these tests.

This fact sheet gives an overview of:

  • TBI-related visual dysfunctions
  • Established rehabilitation techniques

These portable cards are for eye care providers and rehabilitation specialists. They can be used in various clinical environments. The cards include:

  • Test tables
  • Test procedures
  • Recommended rehabilitation strategies
  • TBI-related visual dysfunction techniques

This Clinical Recommendation is a step-by-step guide to help eye care providers:

  • Manage
  • Rehabilitate
  • Refer patients

We offer practical tools to identify patients with mild TBI who need more care. Our tools include:

  • Clinical Support Tool: An "Algorithm Card" to guide providers through the recommended care steps
  • Educational Brochure: A patient-focused guide on vision changes related to TBI, symptoms, and when to see a doctor

The Dizziness and Traumatic Brain Injury practice recommendation is for eye care providers. It helps them to assess, to manage, and to refer patients who have dizziness after a concussion or TBI.

Eye care providers should use this tool to support their clinical decisions. This tool may not look at local or structural conditions like staffing or equipment. This could impact their clinical decisions.

The Laser Exposure recommendation is for all medical providers. It’s for those providers who treat service members who may have been exposed to Directed Energy (DE).
It explains:

  • What DE is
  • How DE affects the eyes
  • How to develop a care procedure
  • How an eye care provider gives follow-on care

This Practice Recommendation covers vision and eye movement problems. It is for use after a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (m/TBI). It helps providers diagnose and treat patients of all ages.

It includes:

  • A questionnaire about concussion/mTBI history*
  • Recommended steps for diagnosis and treatment
  • Tips for rehabilitation and referral suggestions
  • A step-by-step guide for clinicians

*Patients should complete the questionnaire before their appointment.

Clinical Practice Guidelines

Clinical Practice Guidelines are evidence-based tools. These tools help doctors provide consistent care. Experts create these guidelines. They review medical research to do this. CPGs ensure doctors use the best practices. This applies when treating health conditions or injuries. These guidelines are updated often. This ensures they stay current. By following these guidelines, doctors can improve patient care. They can also increase patient satisfaction.

Eye Trauma: Conditions and Treatments for Eye Surgeons

This Clinical Practice Guideline is for ophthalmologists. It is for those who treat eye injuries in a deployed environment. They do so without support from fully trained subspecialty providers. This CPG is based on expert input. It also uses the latest medical literature:

Laser Exposure: Ocular Evaluation and What to Do

This guideline helps medical providers care for service members who might have had laser exposure affecting their eyes. Click here to learn what you need to know:

Online Training on Joint Knowledge Online

Joint Knowledge Online provides a global training and education platform. JKO’s catalog offers hundreds of online courses to support the Military Health System. Users with a Common Access Card or login can access JKO. VCE has developed the following courses:

This course provides an overview of vision care coordination between the DOD and VA. It also explains how VCSCs play a role in vision care coordination. Case Managers and coordination professionals will learn about:

  • The role of VCSCs
  • The purpose of Ocular Trauma Centers
  • Where VCSCs are located and contact information
  • How to conduct vision care coordination with the VA
  • The meaning of ocular red flags
  • Vision care resources available to active-duty service members, retirees, and dependents

CAC required for JKO access.

The modules in this course will help eye care providers, therapists, and all other multidisciplinary staff understand these topics:

  • Vision dysfunction following TBI
  • Underlying anatomy and causes of TBI associated vision dysfunction
  • Initial assessment and evaluation
  • Items to consider for treatment and rehab at a local site
  • What to do next and how to refer for:
    • Additional evaluations
    • Care
    • Treatment strategies

CAC required for JKO access.

Federal Optometric Residency 

We have a joint effort with the Uniformed Services University to help eye care providers. Here’s how these tools can help:

Core Program

  • Provides a strong education
  • Covers clinical care and research
  • Offers training for brain injury patients in the military, VA and in the public
  • Focuses on best proven practices and seeks to always improve

Federal Optometric Residency in Brain Injury Rehabilitation Core CurriculumView curriculum

Milestones Assessment Plan

  • Offers a clear way to evaluate residents’ progress
  • Assesses skills in patient care, medical knowledge, and communication

Federal Optometric Residency in Brain Injury Rehabilitation - Milestones Assessment PlanView plan

Ocular Trauma and Vision Readiness Video Teleconference

We host a monthly worldwide teleconference to educate about eye injuries and vision readiness. We get insights from the Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency, and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Here's what you need to know:

  • Our conferences bring together experts from care sites worldwide
  • We review vision cases and look for ways to improve our processes
  • Participants, including eye doctors, neurologists, physicians, and nurses, can earn Continuing Education

Come join us to learn, share, and improve vision care together! Email us at dha.ncr.dha-re-activity.mbx.vce@health.milEmail the VCE to learn how to register for the next teleconference.

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Last Updated: December 03, 2024
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