Knee Program · Addison, TX

The Innovare Tx Knee Program

A knee that has not settled in months does not need another opinion about what it might be. It needs someone to find out, build a real plan, and tell you honestly when the answer lies somewhere else. That is the whole program, in five steps.

Book Your Visit (214) 233-3094

In short

The Knee Program is an evaluate-first pathway for ongoing knee pain in Addison, TX. It begins with a full evaluation and in-office ultrasound, builds a guideline-based conservative plan with Rowena Calleja, PT, reassesses on a fixed date, and then discusses the procedures that fit your findings — the autologous orthobiologic procedures we perform here, and the ones we refer out, including genicular artery embolization, which is performed by an interventional radiologist. Led by Charles Ortega, PA-C, MPAS.

Why a program instead of a procedure

Most people arrive at a knee clinic having already been offered something. A cortisone injection that worked for a while. A supplement. A surgery date that felt too early. An injection they read about online. What is usually missing is the step before all of them: a clear account of which structure in the knee is generating the pain, and what the plan is if the first thing does not work.

So we sequence it. Every patient in the program gets the same first visit and the same fixed reassessment date, and nothing procedural is discussed until there is a finding to discuss it against. That order is not a marketing device — it is how the major osteoarthritis guidelines are written, and it is also the only order in which we can tell whether anything we did made a difference.

Who the program is for

Knee pain that has lasted more than six weeks
Osteoarthritis you have been told to “live with”
A meniscus or ligament injury that never fully settled
Pain that returns each time a cortisone injection wears off
A knee that limits stairs, squatting, kneeling or walking distance
A surgical opinion you want a second look at before deciding

It is not for a knee that is acutely hot, swollen and painful with fever, a knee that gave way completely during an injury, or a leg that is newly swollen and tender in the calf. Those need same-day care, not a program — see who the program suits.

The pathway

Five steps, in this order

Each step links to the page that covers it in full. Nobody moves to step four without a finding from step one.

Find out what is actually wrong
A full history, a hands-on exam, and a review of any imaging you already have. Charles Ortega, PA-C uses in-office ultrasound to look at the soft tissue around the joint. You leave the first visit knowing what we think is driving the pain and what we still need to find out.
What happens at your evaluation
Start with the conservative plan
Exercise therapy, offloading, and load management are the backbone of osteoarthritis care in every major guideline, and they are the first thing we build. Rowena Calleja, PT runs the program in the same building, and most plans bill to your insurance.
Knee physical therapy
Reassess honestly at six to twelve weeks
We measure the same things we measured on day one. If the plan is working, we keep going. If it is not, we say so and change it rather than repeat it — including referring you on when that is the right answer.
Who the program suits
Discuss the procedures we offer in-house
If you are an appropriate candidate, we can discuss autologous orthobiologic procedures — PRP, PPP, BMAC and A2M, prepared from your own blood or bone marrow and delivered with image guidance, in one visit. These are investigational procedures, not approved treatments.
Orthobiologic options for the knee
Coordinate the care we do not provide
Some options belong to other specialists. Genicular artery embolization is performed by an interventional radiologist, and some knees are better served by an orthopedic surgeon. We evaluate, we explain, and we make the referral — we do not keep you in-house to keep you in-house.
Genicular artery embolization

Scope, stated plainly

What we do here, and what we send you out for

A clinic that claims to do everything for a knee is telling you something about its marketing, not its capability.

In our Addison clinic

Knee evaluation, hands-on exam and in-office ultrasound
Review of your existing X-rays, MRI reports and operative notes
A structured physical therapy program with Rowena Calleja, PT
Autologous orthobiologic procedures — PRP, PPP, BMAC and A2M
Medically supervised weight management, when weight is part of the picture
Primary care coordination, so the whole picture stays with one team

Referred to a specialist

Genicular artery embolization — performed by an interventional radiologist
Knee replacement and arthroscopic surgery — orthopedic surgery
Advanced MRI and CT imaging — imaging centers we send you to
Nerve conduction studies and EMG — a referral, billed to your insurance
Rheumatology workup when an inflammatory arthritis is suspected
Emergency care for a hot, locked or acutely unstable knee

PRP, PPP, BMAC, and A2M are autologous procedures prepared from your own blood or bone marrow. They are considered investigational and are not FDA-approved for the treatment of any specific orthopedic condition, including osteoarthritis. Individual results are not guaranteed. Any decision to pursue an orthobiologic procedure should be made with your provider after a clinical evaluation.

The part of knee care nobody wants to talk about

The 2019 American College of Rheumatology and Arthritis Foundation osteoarthritis guideline makes only a short list of strong recommendations for knee osteoarthritis. Two of them are exercise and, for patients who are overweight or obese, weight loss. The guideline notes that benefit appears from around a 5% change in body weight and continues to increase beyond it.

We mention it because we can actually do something about it in the same building. Our medically supervised weight management program is run by the same provider who evaluates your knee, so the plan is one plan. Whether it is appropriate for you is a clinical decision made at a consultation, not a default.

Also strongly recommended for knee OA

Exercise therapy
Weight loss if overweight or obese
Tibiofemoral bracing
Cane use where walking is limited
Self-management and self-efficacy programs

Source: 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline for the management of hand, hip and knee osteoarthritis. Which of these applies to you is decided at your evaluation.

Everything in the program

Read any part of it before you book

We would rather you arrive having read the awkward pages than arrive unprepared.

Your knee evaluation

What the first visit covers, what to bring, and what you walk out knowing.

Knee physical therapy

The guideline-backed core of knee care — exercise therapy, offloading and load management with Rowena Calleja, PT.

Orthobiologic options

PRP, PPP, BMAC and A2M explained as procedures: autologous, minimally manipulated, image-guided, same day.

Genicular artery embolization

What GAE is, who performs it, what the evidence says, and how we evaluate and refer.

Are you a candidate?

Who the program suits, who it does not, and the findings that send you elsewhere.

Costs & insurance

What bills to insurance, what is cash-pay, and how we verify your benefits before you come in.

Knee resource hub

Every knee guide, checklist and article in one place.

Knee questions answered

The long-form answers to the questions patients actually ask about knee care.

Knee & orthobiologic glossary

Plain-English definitions for the terms on your imaging report and in our copy.

Request a knee evaluation

Tell us about your knee

Include how long it has been going on and anything you have already tried. Our team responds within one business day. For urgent needs, please call.

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Questions, answered

Knee Program FAQs

It is a structured pathway rather than a single treatment. It starts with a full evaluation of your knee — history, hands-on exam, in-office ultrasound and a review of any imaging you already have — and moves through a conservative plan, an honest reassessment, and a conversation about the procedural options that fit your findings. Some of those options we perform in our Addison clinic; others, such as genicular artery embolization, we evaluate you for and refer out. See the five steps and who the program suits.

No. Genicular artery embolization (GAE) is a catheter-based procedure performed by an interventional radiologist in an angiography suite, not in a clinic like ours. What we do is evaluate whether your knee and your history fit the population GAE is being used in, explain what the current evidence does and does not show, and coordinate a referral. Read our full explanation of genicular artery embolization.

Parts of it. Office visits, physical therapy and diagnostic imaging are generally billable, and Innovare Tx accepts 200+ plans including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Medicare and United Healthcare. Autologous orthobiologic procedures are not covered by insurance and are cash-pay. Our billing team verifies your benefits before your visit so you are not guessing — see costs and insurance.

The first evaluation is a single visit. A conservative plan is normally given six to twelve weeks before it is formally reassessed, because that is the window in which an exercise-based program should be showing measurable change. Reassessment is scheduled from the start, so there is a fixed date at which we compare the same measurements rather than asking you how it feels.

No referral is needed to book. Bring any knee X-rays, MRI reports or prior operative notes if you have them, since a report you already own often saves a repeat study. If you have never had imaging, that is fine — the evaluation decides whether imaging would change the plan before anything is ordered.

Innovare Tx is at 16901 Dallas Pkwy, Ste 210, Addison, TX 75001, just off the Dallas North Tollway and about three miles north of the Galleria, with free on-site parking. We see patients from Addison, Dallas, Plano, Richardson, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Frisco, McKinney and Irving. Call (214) 233-3094 — Charles Ortega, PA-C provides care in English and Spanish.

Read the full knee question hub

Get the knee looked at properly

Book an evaluation at our Addison clinic, or call and we’ll verify your insurance before you come in.