Telemedicine Improves Treatment Outcomes for Diabetics

Telemedicine could prove a valuable tool if you're struggling to improve care for low-income, uninsured or otherwise underserved diabetic patients. For instance, a study recently published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved shows how Middletown, Conn.-based Community Health Center Inc., used telemedicine to double the number of patients receiving retinopathy evaluations while reducing the cost per patient by $25. The study focused on underserved populations: 60 percent of participants came from racial or ethnic minorities, 91 percent were at 200 percent or more below the federal poverty level, and 25 percent were uninsured, according to the study's authors.

One of the most interesting aspects of the study: It used a free, web-based system called EyePACS to perform the retinopathy evaluations, meaning the primary-care physicians involved didn't need specialized training to perform the initial testing. Instead, they recorded images with Canon CR-1 digital retinal cameras--purchased specifically for the study--and sent them to Yale ophthalmologists, whose physicians performed the retinopathy evaluations and returned their results through the EyePACS website, the authors explain...