VIDEO: PCPs play important role in early detection for diabetic eye disease

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One of the very important things for diabetic eye disease is early detection. And as I was saying, diabetic patients present to a retina specialist ranging from a very early disease to a very advanced disease. The biggest challenge is trying to find them as soon as they are diagnosed to have diabetic retinopathy changes. And I think this is where the early detection plays a role. And I think taking this to the primary clinical care level is going to make a huge difference. And with the help of these AI techniques which I was mentioning, if these AI tools are applied to the fundus images, which are easily taken at every PCP clinic, the AI tools can detect these diabetic retinopathy changes at a very early stage. And then these patients can be quickly referred to a retina specialist, and then the follow-up can be done at retina clinics. And I think this is going to bring a lot of difference. And in addition to this, I think the awareness for our patients is most important. And I think diabetic retinopathy screening cams will make a huge difference, especially for the underprivileged groups or patients where the health care access is limited. And I think these patients can be screened and diagnosed as early changes, and these patients can be referred to us for further treatment. And now social media is so much part of our life. I think bringing this up as an awareness tool in social media, TV, radio and PCP offices, wherever we get to interact with the patients, we should try to bring this awareness to our patients. And I think this will certainly improve the outcome for our patients, and we will be able to avoid vision loss because of diabetic retinopathy.