The Collaborative UC Teleophthalmology Initiative for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening
Description: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in adults, and early detection and treatment are critical to prevent vision loss. Yet, fewer than 50% of the 3.2 million Californians with diabetes undergo recommended annual eye screening, with disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations. Teleophthalmology using retinal cameras deployed in primary care settings can increase adherence to retinopathy screening and expand eye care access in California. Recently, implementation of a remote, point-of-care retinal imaging program at UC Davis during the COVID19 pandemic improved eye screening from below national median (46%) to the top quartile of the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) benchmarks (>65%). A UCSD study also found that 23% of patients who underwent remote DR screening showed ocular pathology beyond diabetic retinopathy alone. However, widespread and sustained adoption of telehealth programs has been limited by technical, logistical, and financial barriers that vary between UC systems. We propose to establish a Collaborative UC Teleophthalmology Initiative (CUTI) between four UC health campuses (UCD, UCLA, UCSD, and UCSF) to 1) identify barriers to tele-ophthalmology utilization, 2) develop implementation packages to provide long-term, effective solutions to expand eye care access, and 3) develop a centralized repository of retinal images from UC sites for future research correlating retinal pathology to health data using artificial intelligence (AI). Our interdisciplinary collaboration includes experts in public health, diabetes care, clinical informatics, implementation science, and ophthalmic imaging to address obstacles in clinical workflow, technology integration, financial sustainability, and quality reporting. Our program provides training opportunities for medical and research trainees to utilize implementation science to address a public health problem, study health disparities, collaborate in health services research, and develop system-level solutions for long-term sustainability of teleophthalmology programs. Our primary mission is to achieve a 65% benchmark for diabetic eye screening across all 4 UC sites, with secondary goals of reducing healthcare disparities in eye care access in California and developing infrastructure for AI-based health research.
Amount: $2,000,000
Funding type: grant
Funder scheme: MRPI Program Award
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Investigators: Glenn Yiu, Christine Thorne
Institutions: UC Davis, UC San Diego
Funded outputs count: 1
Funder award ID: M23PR5991
OpenAlex ID: G5737691417