Two New Certified RLS Quality Care Centers
Friday, December 18, 2015Yale Centers for Restless Legs Syndrome and Houston Methodist Neurological Institute FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Austin, Texas – December 1...
Friday, December 18, 2015
Yale Centers for Restless Legs Syndrome and Houston Methodist Neurological Institute
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin, Texas – December 18, 2015 – Yale Centers for
Restless Legs Syndrome in New Haven, Connecticut; and Houston
Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, Texas, have been certified as RLS
Quality Care Centers by the Restless Legs Syndrome
(RLS) Foundation. The designation recognizes specialty providers that have
expertise in treating RLS patients with a range of complexities and
comorbidities.
RLS (also known as
Willis-Ekbom disease) is a chronic neurological disorder affecting millions
of people, with often devastating impact on quality of life; an estimated 2 to
3 percent of adults need clinical treatment for RLS.
“RLS patients often experience delays in diagnosis and effective
treatment,” says RLS Foundation Executive Director Karla Dzienkowski. “For
people with moderate to severe symptoms, finding a provider who can effectively
treat and manage their disease is the key to a better quality of life. As the
RLS Quality Care Center network grows, we are expanding the reach of RLS
clinicians to patients who are in desperate need of their expertise.”
The RLS Foundation coordinates a network of
certified RLS Quality Care Centers that now includes seven providers in the
U.S. and Europe. Provider certification requires a high level of expertise and
experience treating RLS patients. The program benefits patients and families
through:
- Recognition of Quality Care Centers as leaders in the field and as specialty clinics for patients who are traveling or in search of knowledgeable healthcare providers
- Availability of Quality Care Center staff as information resources for referring primary care providers
- Patient educational offerings, print materials and connections with RLS Foundation local support groups
Brian Koo, MD, is an assistant professor of neurology at
Yale School of Medicine and director of the RLS Quality Care Center at Yale. “At
Yale, we are thrilled and humbled by our designation as an RLS Quality Care
Center. We see this as an opportunity to get patients involved with important
clinical research, to provide education through the RLS Foundation, but most
importantly to offer excellent clinical care for those that suffer from this
terrible disease,” says Dr. Koo.
William G. Ondo, MD, is director of the Movement Disorders
Clinic at Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, and director the RLS
Quality Care Center at Houston Methodist. “Although there are four officially
FDA-approved medications for RLS, there is still a great deal of
individualization and nuance to optimally treating patients, especially for
more advanced cases,” says Dr. Ondo. “Many of these patients travel a long and
winding route to find effective treatment. As an RLS Quality Care Center, we
hope to strengthen the network of providers specializing in RLS treatment, so
that patients can more readily find optimized and comprehensive care.”
Other RLS Quality Care Centers include the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Emory Sleep Center, Johns
Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome, Stanford Center for Sleep
Sciences and Medicine, and Innsbruck Medical University, Department of
Neurology, Sleep Lab and Sleep Disorders Outpatient Clinic.
To learn more about the RLS Quality Care Center Program, visit
www.rls.org/quality-care-program.
The RLS Foundation
is dedicated to improving the lives of men, women and children who live with
restless legs syndrome (RLS, also known as Willis-Ekbom disease). Founded in
1989, the Foundation’s goals are to increase awareness, improve treatments and
through research, find a cure for RLS. The Foundation serves healthcare
providers, researchers, over 4,000 members and an estimated seven million
individuals in the U.S. and Canada who have RLS. The RLS Foundation Research
Grant Program has awarded $1.5 million to fund medical research on RLS causes
and treatments. For more information, visit www.rls.org.
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