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April 12, 2005
University of Iowa Foundation Receives $31,700 Grant from The Wellmark Foundation To Launch Tele-diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy Project in Plymouth County
( Des Moines, Iowa) – Primary care physicians at the Mercy Medical Clinic in Akron, Iowa, will have a new digital tool available to them to diagnose diabetic retinopathy, thanks to a $31,700 grant from The Wellmark Foundation.
A complication of diabetes is blindness due to diabetic retinopathy, a largely preventable condition, explained Michael Abramoff, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa. “Fifty percent of patients with diabetes currently do not get screenings because it requires traveling to and reimbursement of an ophthalmologist for a dilated eye exam. This problem is aggravated in rural Iowa, where few ophthalmologists are available,” he said.
The grant project, Tele-diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy in Rural Iowa, brings a retinal camera into the office of primary care physicians at Mercy Medical Clinic in Akron. Photographs of the retina are transmitted over the Internet to be diagnosed by the retinal specialists at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology. The physicians’ diagnoses are then transmitted back to the family care clinic.
“The ultimate goal,” said Dr. Abramoff, “is to make the early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy more accessible to rural inhabitants of Iowa in order to prevent needless visual loss and blindness from diabetes.”
“This project is a great example of identifying and then working on a significant health issue affecting the community,” said Dr. Sheila Riggs, executive director of The Wellmark Foundation. “We are optimistic about the positive results that can occur from this and other Foundation-funded projects.”
For more information on this project, contact Dr. Abramoff at (319) 356-1951 or by e-mail at michael-abramoff@uiowa.edu.
The Wellmark Foundation has provided nearly $7.63 million to fund 207 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including $528,891 this cycle. The foundation has also provided $1.95 million to United Way organizations in both states since 1997.
The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., doing business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. For a list of grant recipients, as well as how to apply for a grant from The Wellmark Foundation, visit the Foundation’s Web site at www.wellmark.com and click on “The Wellmark Foundation.” Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
