Prevent Blindness North Carolina recently received a grant from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) to pilot a program ensuring a quicker turnaround time for retinal image reading and evaluation. Prior to receiving this funding, a network of volunteer doctors read images for the adult retinal screening program. This method involved a time consuming process of collecting large groups of images to send to each reading doctor, and additional time for them to read the images outside their normal work day. The average time from the screening date until the results are returned to PBNC is 24 days utilizing the services of volunteer doctors.
With the new funding from NACDD, PBNC partnered with EyePACs for their pay-per-person retinal image reading service. Images are uploaded to a secure, HIPAA compliant portal – sometimes in real time – and results are back within minutes of some uploads. The average time from upload to receipt of results is now closer to 24 hours instead of an average of 24 days. PBNC is very excited about the possibilities this would mean for the program should additional funding be secured to continue utilizing the services offered by EyePACs.