ABSTRACT
Eye care is a very specialized field that is beyond the scope of practice for primary care providers and associated physician extenders. Eye care providers are increasingly caring for or lending their expertise to help individuals remotely using information technologies and the internet to overcome the barrier of physically visiting an eye care specialist. This is commonly referred to as telemedicine, and the programs related to eye care are collectively termed as teleophthalmology. There are many models of teleophthalmology, but most involve capturing an image of the eye and transferring the image to an expert optometrist or ophthalmologist who can diagnose the patient based on the fundus photographs. Teleophthalmology empowers primary care practitioners (PCPs) to screen for vision-threatening diseases in their office and then connect with the expertise of eye care providers. Ophthalmic technicians and photographers may help increase access to diagnostic eye services with mobile eye care programs that transport imaging technology to populations in need.
