Increasing Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in Resident-Run Clinic Through Partnership With Ophthalmology Clinic: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Despite the importance of early detection of diabetic retinopathy, many diabetic patients fail to receive the recommended screening. The objective of this quality-improvement initiative was to increase diabetic retinopathy screening through a partnership between primary care and ophthalmology, where primary care clinic staff may schedule patients directly for screening appointments at point of referral. To our knowledge, this intervention is the first described to use an interspecialty partnership to increase screening. We implemented the intervention at a resident-run primary care clinic with a medically underserved patient population. The pilot intervention took place over a 6-month time frame. The completion rate of diabetic retinopathy screening examinations was compared before and after intervention and was found to increase in a statistically significant manner from 34.7% to 40.5% ( p = .01). The no-show rate did improve from 66.7% preintervention to 46.0% postintervention; however, this change was not statistically significant ( p = .44). During this pilot, the intervention was able to increase diabetic retinopathy screening completion rate; however, further efforts should be aimed at addressing no-shows. Overall, this initiative was a positive step toward the goal of every diabetic patient undergoing the appropriate screening examinations.