{"id":8023,"date":"2024-11-12T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023"},"modified":"2024-11-12T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:30:00","slug":"expanding-access-to-glaucoma-care-with-innovative-telehealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023","title":{"rendered":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/central-alabama-health-care\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Central Alabama VA<\/a> is working with the VISN 7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patientcare.va.gov\/primarycare\/CRH.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">Clinical Resource Hub<\/a> (CRH) to improve eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama. One major challenge has been the question of overcoming long distances that rural Veterans have to travel to see eye specialists.<\/p>\n<p>Central Alabama VA\u2019s partnership with VISN 7 CRH\u2014led by Dr. April Maa, director of Virtual Eye Care Services\u2014resulted in the launch of Technology-based Eye Care Services (TECS) at Central Alabama VA in 2019. Eye Care Services uses telehealth to make routine eye care, like screenings and eyeglass prescriptions, more accessible to rural Veterans.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mobile services bring eye care directly to Veterans<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/11\/Glaucoma-eye_r1.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Specialized care for severe glaucoma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>A big step forward came in November 2020 when TECS introduced mobile clinics that provide follow-up care after virtual eye exams. The mobile services at Central Alabama VA-Montgomery have brought critical eye care directly to Veterans. What started as 10 percent of clinic time has now increased to nearly 50 percent, showing how effective and in-demand these services are.<\/p>\n<p>Central Alabama VA has also expanded eye care services to Columbus, where specialized clinics have been held twice a month since February 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2024, Central Alabama VA and VISN 7 CRH launched Synchronous Tele-Glaucoma clinics, a new service that connects Veterans with glaucoma specialists using Clinical Video Telehealth.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Annette Giangiacomo, a glaucoma specialist in Milwaukee, works with VISN 7 CRH to provide expert care without requiring Veterans to travel far.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSynchronous Tele-Glaucoma clinics are a game changer,\u201d said Dr. Saima Kanwal, Acute Care &amp; Specialties at Central Alabama VA. \u201cThey ensure our Veterans receive specialized care for severe glaucoma locally, enhancing patient-provider relationships and facilitating timely treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Telehealth system allows interaction between Veterans and providers<\/h2>\n<p>The Clinical Video Telehealth system allows real-time interaction between Veterans and providers, improving diagnosis and education. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis approach ensures continuity of care comparable to face-to-face visits, with specialists having access to comprehensive patient records and the ability to conduct thorough examinations remotely,\u201d said Jacqueline Bricken, ophthalmology technician.<\/p>\n<p>Central Alabama VA and VISN 7 CRH are committed to expanding telehealth services and finding new ways to deliver specialized care in the future. \u201cOur goal is to continue breaking down geographic barriers,\u201d said Kanwal, \u201censuring all Veterans receive the highest quality eye care regardless of location.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/136093\/expanding-access-glaucoma-care-with-telehealth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-telehealth-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023\"},\"wordCount\":429,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health &amp; Care\",\"Telehealth &amp; Access to Care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023\",\"name\":\"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"width\":793,\"height\":793},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8023#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans","description":"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans","og_description":"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth","datePublished":"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023"},"wordCount":429,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","articleSection":["Health &amp; Care","Telehealth &amp; Access to Care"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023","name":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","datePublished":"2024-11-12T15:30:00+00:00","description":"Central Alabama VA is working to improve glaucoma screening and other eye care services for Veterans in central Alabama.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","width":793,"height":793},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8023#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Expanding access to glaucoma care with innovative telehealth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}