Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Luga Podesta is a nationally recognized sports medicine physician specializing in the non-surgical treatment of orthopedic, musculoskeletal and sports related injuries to the shoulder, elbow, knee and spine.

Dr. Podesta participates with most of the major insurance carriers including but not limited to: Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, Tricare and Medicare.

Dr. Podesta is not participating physician in: HMO’s, Medi-Cal, Blue Shield, United Healthcare or Pacific Care.

Dr. Podesta is a participating physician with a number of workers compensation MPNs. He is also a Qualified Medical Examiner (QME), Agreed Medical Examiner (AME) and Independent Medical Examiner (IME). Please contact you worker compensation adjuster to obtain the proper authorizations and to ask if Dr. Podesta is on your employers MPN.

Although Dr. Podesta is primarily a non-surgical physician, his expertise lies in the ability to determine if surgery is necessary for a particular condition or injury. If surgery is determined to be necessary, he will be able to refer you to the most qualified and experience surgeons to treat your specific injury, assist the surgeon with your surgery and then appropriately rehabilitate you after surgery.