In 2022, the Club expanded its vision program to include screening people living with diabetes for diabetic retinopathy with the RetinaVue care delivery model.
The Syracuse Host Lions Club has been focused on preserving vision in the community with screening programs to detect vision disorders in children for more than 10 years. In 2022, the Club expanded its vision program to include screening people living with diabetes for diabetic retinopathy. The Club is committed to preventing blindness, as seven members of the Syracuse Host Lions Club are blind.
Lion Douglas Russell, Secretary, Syracuse Host Lions
Annual diabetic retinopathy screening is recommended for people living with diabetes.1 Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults2, however 95% of vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy can be prevented with early detection and treatment.3 Only 60% of patients complete the annual screening,1 which makes the Syracuse Host Lions’ Club diabetic retinal screening program critical for Syracuse and Central New York communities.
“I know there are people all over our community who don’t have enough options to get their diabetic retinal screening done,” says Russell. In Onondaga County, where Syracuse is located, the average percentage of people living with diabetes is 9.4%.4
29.6% of the population in Syracuse, NY, lives in poverty and almost 50% of the population is minority.5 In general, minority populations are more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy in the United States.6 The Club’s program is designed to help ensure that the community has access to diabetic retinal screenings.
"My hope is that we can reach people living with diabetes and provide the annual screening they need for diabetic retinopathy, helping them avoid additional challenges associated with diabetes."
„Russell, who started the Club’s pediatric vision screening program in 2012, first discovered the diabetic retinal screening device at an International Lions Club Convention. Given the success the Club had experienced with its pediatric vision screening program, Russell was intrigued with the idea of creating a program aimed at helping prevent vision loss for people living with diabetes. To start a diabetic retinal exam program, the Club needed:
Russell secured a matching grant through the Lion’s Club Foundation to purchase the Welch Allyn RetinaVue 700 Imager to initially start the program. The RetinaVue 700 Imager was an easy-to-use solution for the member-driven group. An on-screen image quality assessment algorithm helps the Lion screening patients immediately know if the image captured is adequate for an ophthalmologist to provide a diagnosis.
Over the past year, the Syracuse Host Lions Club has screened more than 170 patients at various events. Members of the Club have been trained to perform screenings with the RetinaVue 700 Imager with support from the Baxter Customer Success team.
Screening events are scheduled through nonprofit organizations, churches and other Lions Clubs. “Part of building the program is constantly letting groups know we are available to perform screenings,” commented Russell.
After a screening event, the member managing the event uploads the images captured on the camera to the Welch Allyn RetinaVue network. Through the secure, HIPPA-compliant RetinaVue Network, Richard Malara, OD, Syracuse Host Lions Club’s clinical advisor, views the images and provides a diagnosis report for each patient.
Those individual patient diagnosis reports are available in the RetinaVue network for the Lions Club member to provide to the patient with guidance from the provider on any necessary next steps for additional evaluation if retinopathy is detected. The report provided to the patient has all the information needed for a referring eye specialist to create a care plan.
Of the patients screened to date, referable pathology has been detected in 26% of patients. 88% of those cases have been categorized as serious. “Reviewing the data on our program month over month, I know that we are achieving our objective,” says Russell.
Reviewing the data on our program month over month, I know that we are achieving our objective.
„Diabetic retinopathy often has no symptoms in its early stages.3 Providing convenient access to screening in a community setting helps ensure people living with diabetes can get the follow-up care they need to prevent negative impacts on their vision. Syracuse Host members see great potential for assisting the community and contribute a lot of their time supporting the screenings.
“The best advice I can provide to other Lions Clubs starting a diabetic retinal exam screening program is to spend the time to develop a workflow that can be used consistently,” said Russell. “The partnerships you create with local providers is also important to handle the volume of images and diagnosis reports that need to be prepared for patients you are screening.” The Club recently partnered with a second provider to provide overread services.
The Syracuse Host Lions Club program took off quickly. A second RetinaVue 700 Imager was purchased to help the Club address the demand for screenings in the community. While it’s positive that more people in the community are completing their annual screenings, that also means more Lions Club members are running screening events and more images need to be interpreted. “Training, planning and preparation with the Baxter Customer Success team helps ensure that we can meet the needs of people living with diabetes in our community,” says Russell.
