NEUROSCIENCE BASED COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT
Cognitive impairment can occur at any age for a variety of reasons. Stress, dementia, head injury, sleep disorders and pain are common reasons. Current testing, at a primary care level, lacks the sensitivity and specificity to make accurate patient assessments.Until recently, objectively assessing patients for cognitive impairment has been difficult due to the lack of specificity.
There is a rising incidence of need for physicians to test cognitive function due to the ageing population, prevalence of stress, pain and increased awareness of the impact of head injury. Cognitive symptoms can occur outside of normal age associated memory loss.In the instance of head injury, failure to accurately assess brain function could result in legal fall out for the physician due to the impact and significance of missed diagnosis.Additionally, without proper diagnosis, head injury can severely impact patient outcomes without appropriate treatment.Cognitively impaired patients can present withsymptoms of confusion, forgetfulness, brain fog and functional impairment.
The Evox System enables the physician to quickly and objectively assess cognitive impairment in office and aid them in diagnosis of causative conditions.As the population ages, the prevalence and impact of cognitive impairment can have a significant effect on families and society. Poor cognitive outcomes are now believed to be part of a 20 to 30 year decline process and testing as early as the age of 45 can be beneficial. Standard primary care paper-based assessments make dementia subtypes difficult to determine resulting in less successful treatment outcomes. As many as 86% of deceased patients were misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.The eVoxSystem can help assess patients up to 15 years prior to the onset of symptoms. Cognitive disorders can therefore be treated early with associated causes such as nutritional deficiencies, stress, thyroid or other contributors.
The device aids in diagnosis of both the Central and Autonomic Nervous systems. CNS function is determined through the EEG activity and the ANS is assessed objectively through the EKG that is performed simultaneously. The assessment works based on biofeedback of bio markers.
Practice Benefits
Improved clinical outcomes through objective and early assessment
Detect memory decline markers 15 years prior to symptoms manifesting
Detect head injury where CT and MRI will show negative
Functional assessment quickly and easily in the office
Use of ANS/HRV, EEG and ERP as reliable measures for head injury
Empowers the physician to instigate appropriate treatment early
Instigate effective treatment altering the path of the disease state
Assess chronic pain patients for pathology and ANS effects
Biofeedback interventions
Provides a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain patients
What is the Evox System?
The EVox is both a hardware and software system that works through a 19 channel EEG and 3 lead ECG. Part of the assessment involves the patient taking a neuropsychological questionnaire which will support the aid to diagnosis. Essentially the eVox provides a in office ‘lab test’ for the brain for assessing potential cognitive disorders.Each patient test is processed into an easy to understand report that includes brain health biomarkers. These are determined though quantitative EEG, brain processing speed (event related potentials), LORETA imaging and EKG.
How It Works?
The eVox System is suited well to Primary Care, Pain practices, Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and more. As the device aids early and accurate diagnosis, a primary care physician is well placed to benefit their patients with this testing. A Medical Assistant or office staff can be easily trained to perform the test.Ten minutes is first needed to prepare the patient with 25 minutes then needed to perform the test. The test consists of an initial questionnaire assessment followed by some simple functional assessment of patient response and brain imaging.Full training is provided to all necessary staff with ongoing support and free patient marketing materials.Billing is performed across 6 CPT codes with a national average reimbursement of $750 to $800 per patient on Medicare with similar for insurances.
Start-up and Implementation
Summary
The eVoxSystem provides an easy to use and invaluable device to physicians as a powerful diagnostic aid in the assessment of cognitive disorders. Any physician seeing patients that suffer with pain, stress, head injury or ageing can benefit from offering this service. Testing provides valuable and easy to interpret information that can positively impact patient lives through targeted treatment outcomes.
To find out more, complete the form below and request information on eVox.