Polyxene Kokinos, MD and Debbie Hoover, RVT RMDS Announce Unique Vascular Testing Facility
Online, April 3, 2012 (Newswire.com) - There is a new vascular ultrasound lab in town. The Institute for Vascular Testing (IVT) is a free-standing, full-service vascular testing and screening center, the first of its kind in the South Bay. Scheduled to open in early April 2012 under the direction of Polyxene Kokinos, MD and Debbie Hoover, RVT RMDS, the center promises shorter wait times for patients and less expensive test costs than similar hospital-based services.
Opening this new center is the response to a need by patients and physicians in the community for high quality vascular outpatient ultrasounds - a service that has been limited in the past. The current trend in vascular testing at hospitals is one where patients need to register in admitting, re-register in the radiology department, and then wait in the radiology department, often getting "bumped" by more urgent inpatient or emergency room cases. "Patients often spend hours waiting for a test that takes only thirty or forty minutes," said Dr. Polyxene Kokinos, Medical Director of the Institute for Vascular Testing (www.sbivt.com).
Further complicating this issue is the financial cost that patients are subjected to by seeking vascular tests at the hospital. Patient insurance companies can be billed between $2,000 and $4,000 for a short vascular ultrasound, and the patient often pays a large portion out-of-pocket since this type of service is billed directly against his or her deductible. Even if the insurance company covers a portion of this sum, the cost to the patient is still significantly higher than if the test is done at an outpatient facility such as the Institute for Vascular Testing.
Debbie Hoover, the technical director of the vascular laboratory at Good Samaritan Hospital for the last 15 years is leaving the hospital to join Dr. Kokinos (http://www.legsbydesign.com), a local vascular surgeon, to bring this state-of-the-art center to the greater San Jose area. The Institute for Vascular Testing will offer high quality, timely vascular ultrasound studies and preventive screenings at reasonable rates.
As of April 1, 2012, the center is open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Limited hours will be available on Saturdays. Questions and comments can be addressed by calling (408) 376-3626.
