SIGHT Studies at University of Michigan
MI-SIGHT


Telemedicine in Eye Care Screening Study

NOW ENROLLING (as of May 2023)

If you are age 18 or older (AND)
– If you would like to participate at the Ypsilanti, MI site please contact our study team at (734) 436-1186 or email us at communitysightprogram@gmail.com  (OR)
– If you would like to participate at the Flint, MI site please contact our study team at (810)309-9378 or email us at hamiltoncommunitysightprogram@gmail.com.


Enrollment Status (as of May 2023)

Research Team

Principal Investigator:

head shot of Pual-Anne

Paula Anne Newman-Casey, MD, MS
Education Director, Kellogg Eye Center for eHealth
Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
University of Michigan

Co-Investigator:

Amanda Bicket, PhD
Angela Elam, MD
David Musch PhD, MPH
Maria A. Woodward, MD, MS
Jason Zhang, MD

Consultants:

April Y. Maa, MD
Sayoko E. Moroi, MD, PhD

Study Description

The University of Michigan MI-SIGHT program helps people with limited access to eye care receive eye disease screening and free or low-cost glasses. We are partnering with the Hope Clinic, a free clinic in Ypsilanti, MI, and the Hamilton Community Health Network, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Flint, MI to carry out this program.

We are a pilot study evaluating whether having eye screenings available in community clinics improves the rate of detection of severe eye diseases. Eye screenings will be conducted using telemedicine. Telemedicine is healthcare where doctors can provide care even when they are not in the same place as the patient by having information and testing sent to them through the electronic health record and the internet.

In our study, ophthalmic technicians, who are like eye nurses, will take measurements and photographs of people’s eyes at the Hope and Hamilton clinics. The technician will also help people pick out free or low-cost eye glasses. This information will be sent through the electronic health record to a University of Michigan eye doctor to read. The technician will see the patient back at a second visit one month later to go over the results and doctor’s treatment recommendations. The technician will help the patient schedule future eye care they can afford if needed.

For More Information

Health Services and Epidemiology

To decrease the prevalence of preventable blindness due to glaucoma, we need to: 1) screen high risk people from vulnerable populations, and 2) ensure people with glaucoma from these vulnerable populations receive and adhere to treatment. Community clinics are key resources to utilize for providing glaucoma screening and care coordination. In the Michigan Screening and INtervention for Glaucoma and eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) Progarm, we are leveraging tele-health to provide comprehensive glaucoma screening, education, and follow-up care through the community clinics to provide a sustainable approach to glaucoma care for the vulnerable populations these clinics serve.

https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/ophthalmology

Community Partners

Hope Clinic | Ypsilanti, MI

Hamilton Community Health Network | Flint, MI

Thank You to – –

Our Community organizations for generously donating needed masks and hand sanitizer.