The Relationship of a Diabetes Telehealth Eye Care Program to Standard Eye Care and Change in Diabetes Health Outcomes

Abstract Several studies suggest that telehealth eye care programs that combine retinal imaging, education, and some care management can improve patient adherence to annual, comprehensive eye examinations and follow-up treatments. Little is known, however, about whether such programs relate to other, more distal outcomes that affect diabetic eye disease, such as blood glucose control. This paper assesses the relationship of participation in a diabetes telehealth eye care program with standard, face-to-face eye care as well as improvements in other diabetes-related health outcomes. We conducted a retrospective study using data from electronic medical record of Joslin Diabetes Center (n = 13,752). The data span 2 years: baseline and follow-up. Subjects’ eye care groups were no eye, eye care outside of the clinic, standard eye care at the clinic, or participation in the Joslin Vision Network telehealth eye care program. We analyzed the relationship of participation in the telehealth eye care program at basel...