Do you accept new patients?
Yes.
What is the waiting time for the first visit?
One to two weeks if it is a routine visit, one to three days if urgent.
What is the waiting time for established patients?
Same day usually in emergency.
How long do I have to wait to refill my medications?
Please call 2-3 days before you run out. On regular weekdays, we fax
refills to local pharmacies by 5:00 pm. On days when the office
is closed, please try not to call for refills unless it is an emergency.
We have to see you at the office at least twice a year to be able to
call in your prescriptions. Please understand that this is your best
interest. We do not refill prescriptions for patients who are not established
with us.
Does the doctor do PAP tests?
Yes, routine PAP tests are done in the office. Please mention it when
you schedule a visit, so we can reserve enough time for you.
How long is a visit?
Your first visit will usually be 30-45 minutes long. Follow ups and interim visits
are 15 minutes. Physical exams are 30-45 minutes, but the doctor will
spend more time with you if the problem is more complicated. Please
tell the receptionist when you schedule your appointment if you want
to discuss multiple, or complicated issuess, in order to schedule enough time for
you. Sometimes we have to do more then one visit to take care all of
the problems.
What is the difference between a physical exam and
a visit?
Physical exam done on asymptomatic patients regularly, usually annually.
They are mainly relevant, preventive procedures. Please note that not
every health plan, or insurance covers physicals. Visits are procedures,
when patients have complaints or conditions, requiring evaluation and
management.
PAIN MANAGEMENT FAQs
Do you accept new patients?
Yes.
What
is pain?
Pain is a subjective, unpleasant, negative
emotional, sensory experience. There is no way to measure objectively; severity
is the level how it is reported.
What is pain management?
Pain management is a newer multidisciplinary field of medicine. Multidisciplinary,
because there are several specialties offering their services to alleviate sufferings
of people in pain. Most of these specialties are complimentary to each other,
some of them, like anesthesia, neurology, orthopedics, physical therapy, etc.
is working in concert to provide quicker and better recovery for the patient.
Who seeks help at the pain management?
There are millions of people, who are suffering from painful conditions, that
make their life a misery, making hard or impossible to work, prevents enjoyment
of life. Most of these pain problems are chronic, meaning, that the pain is
torturing the patients for long periods of time, in most cases longer, than
six months. Everybody is familiar with the sensation of pain that goes away
as we recover from our pain causing illness. Lots of these chronic pain patients
have conditions stationary, progressive or beyond repair, where to deal with
the pain is more important, than with the disease causing it.
What
kind of conditions Dr. Ike Boka treats at the Pain Management Services?
Primarily
spine problems of lower back and neck, but in addition just about any kind of
painful conditions treatable with medicines and/or interventional pain management
procedures. Most of these pain problems are not acute (recently occurred), but
causes discomfort for longer periods of time. Some of them are results of an
accident (home-work-sport of traffic); others are complications of diseases
or their treatments, or perhaps just signs of our body’s wear and tear.
Who
is Dr. Ike Boka? What is his specialty?
He
is an MD and anesthesiologist who has been doing anesthesia since 1976. He is
a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. As an anesthesiologist,
he was trained to do nerve blocks and procedures, which comprise the basis
of an interventional pain management practice. He has several years
of experience in diagnosis and treatment of different painful conditions.
What
does he do to treat pain patients?
After
he takes a thorough history and physical, and reviews the results of the previously
done studies and medical records accessible. He then develops a diagnostic and treatment
plan. It is likely that he orders additional studies to get closer to the
problem causing the pain and to the nature of the pain. The treatment is individual,
medical and/or interventional depending on the particular pain problem, utilizes
other specialist as necessary at different stages of treatment.
What
is a pain procedure, what interventional pain management means?
For
several painful conditions there are ways to knock out those nerves for shorter
or longer period of time, which are responsible for the pain in the particular
body part. Also there are medications or machines treating the triggering disease
or the pain what they’ve caused.
How
do treatments take place? Does he poke needles deep in my body?
The first
step is to clarify the pain problem and make a diagnosis. This process is followed
by a treatment plan. Usually there is more than one way to treat a particular
pain problem. Both the findings and the treatment option are thoroughly discussed
with the patient and with the relatives if required. If any procedure is being
offered, the pros and cons, the precise description of how it is being done,
and the potential side effects are all discussed before any final decision is made.
All the questions are, of course answered.
Are
these procedures very painful?
Most
of these interventional pain procedures, nerve blocks necessitate of injection
of medications, needles are involved. It is a priority for us to minimize the
discomfort caused. We always numb the area with local anesthetics, and if necessary
we are offering sedation for our patients.
Does
Dr. Boka take new patients? If so, how long does it take to get an appointment?
Yes,
he does. Usually it takes no more than 3-4 weeks to get scheduled.
What
kind of insurances are accepted?
He
takes Medicare, Empire, MVP , WC, CDPHP (not govenrment), United Healthcare, and No Fault. Call if you have something different.
What
should I bring with me for the first visit?
If
your doctor refers you, you need a signed referral sheet from him/her. It is
very helpful, saves money and time, and prevents unnecessary duplicate exams.
Please provide all the previous test results and records about the current pain
problem, including reports of surgeries and related illnesses, if applicable.
The Dr. needs to know your current medications with doses, allergies, if you are
pregnant, or if you are on blood thinners.
