A two-year grant from the R. Howard Dobbs Jr. Foundation will focus on closing the health care access gap that prevents un- and underinsured Georgians from getting follow-up vision care.
Announcement of the $180,000 grant was made January 26, and applauded by Georgia Vision 2020, a statewide coalition of providers and advocates that includes Emory Eye Center and our outreach program, Global Ophthalmology (GO-Emory).
The Dobbs Foundation funds will allow us to strengthen the referral network of providers who can give patients direct access to follow-up medical care once a vision problem has been detected,
said Emory Eye Center ophthalmologist (and GO-E director) Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD, MSc.
It is both illogical and heart-breaking when we detect a vision problem at a screening clinic but know that the patient cannot access the follow-up care prescribed.
Among other things, the Dobbs grant will allow three GV2020 providers - the Emory Eye Center, the Georgia Lions Lighthouse, and Prevent Blindness Georgia - to make more mobile medical clinics available to underserved communities. The grant will also further efforts to increase the number and the availability of vision care providers who can offer free or low-cost follow-up care.
Each year, GV2020 partners conduct as many as 600 vision screenings to under-served populations throughout the state. The screenings are free, and the screeners work with patients to make sure that prescribed follow-up medical care is pursued.
That's where the Global Vision Network comes in. The GVN maintains an online customer relations network that matches vision screening patients with appropriate follow-up care providers in their geographic area. The GVN algorithm identifies the patient's need for financial help and identifies local charities that can address it. Those who cannot be matched with a local provider are referred to one of the mobile clinics operated by a GV2020 partner.
The Global Vision Network has brought us a long way toward addressing the vision care gap,
said O'Banion.
We still have a way to go. Patients get overwhelmed by the system, and do not take the next step. And there are not enough providers to meet the need. The infusion of support from the Dobbs Foundation will allow us to forge ahead, to hone this system so that it better serves more people.
In collaboration with Emory Goizueta Business School's IMPACT programs, GVN is already working to put a dent in that statistic. Collaborators are seeking to develop business models that will attract more individual providers and private practices to the network. Under the auspices of the Dobbs grant, GVN also hopes to create an open network among the GV2020 partners -possibly expanding their reach into more high-need areas.
-Kathleen E. Moore
.