Telemedicine is enabling ophthalmologists from Legacy Good Samaritan Devers Eye Institute to treat Native Americans hundreds of miles away in Pendleton, Ore., and Wichita, Kan. The hope is that the program, which is being run in collaboration with researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, will serve as a model for how to reach underserved patients before diabetes robs them of their sight.
Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in working-age adults. It is a complication of diabetes that results from damage to the blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.