Specifications

3 I About the Program
The EyePACS Handbook: Tools for Program Success
I ABOUT THE PROGRAM
About this Handbook
In the four years since the start of the EyePACS pilot program, EyePACS staff
members, along with clinic administrators and photographers in the program, have
learned a great deal about integrating diabetic retinopathy screening (DRS) into the
clinic setting. Above all, the program has been successful because of the hard work and
dedication of the people who work every day to find new and better ways to use the
EyePACS system to improve the health of their diabetic patients.
The project to prevent diabetes-related blindness through diabetic retinopathy
screening began expansion to clinics throughout the state of California in December
2007, with a goal of serving 100 clinics and 100,000 patients. As of this writing (March
2009), the CHCF-sponsored DRS initiative is serving 50 clinics (80 sites) with cameras
and programs to deliver diabetic retinopathy screening services to all patients with
diabetes. There have been more than 12,000 screenings completed (through 1/31/2009)
and 1,850 referrals for treatment have been made as a result.
This handbook is a compilation of tools and information developed for and by the
EyePACS team along with the providers, medical assistants, x-ray technicians, diabetes
coordinators and clinic administrators at clinics across the state of California who have
made the EyePACS program a success in their patient communities. We have collected
their tips and advice here in the hopes that by sharing what we’ve learned from them,
we can improve the success of other clinics participating in the program, and ultimately
prevent more patients from suffering the effects of diabetic retinopathy.
This document is intended to serve as a resource for any and all clinic staff members
that have a role in the program and at many different stages in a site’s implementation
of DRS services. Whether you’re establishing a new DRS site, learning how to screen
patients, or just trying to increase your volume of screenings, you’ll find useful
information in this handbook.
During the course of collecting the information for this document, we spoke to medical
assistants and CEO’s alike to find out what it is that’s made them successful with the
EyePACS program. Here’s what a few of them had to say about their experiences:
“[The program] works because I am determined. I won’t take no for an
answer.”
- L.D., Director