The patient pathway through screening and referral
Once a person with diabetes is identified, it is important to guide them through the local screening and referral pathway. The flow chart on this step highlights the main activities that people with diabetes must take as they follow the pathway across the various health services.
Once a person is diagnosed with diabetes, by a medical or antenatal health service, they need to be directed to regular eye screening and grading services and then, for some patients, to eye care services for treatment and further management. Each service must carefully manage how it communicates about every patient across all stages and to ensure successful follow up.
Monitoring the screening and referral pathway
Managing screening includes tracking the rates of acceptance and attendance along with the different connections. High rates of acceptance and attendance for high coverage of 90% of the target population are essential for early detection of diabetic retinopathy and prevention of vision loss.
Managing the quality of the screening and grading will ensure that a screening programme and its patients are not overburdened by false positives – results which wrongly indicate that diabetic retinopathy is present.
As you examine the flow chart below, consider how can you ensure that all health providers in your setting are able to support persons with diabetes under their care to navigate the screening and referral pathway?
Stage 1. Key steps in the medical services pathway
Stage 2. Key steps in the screening pathway
Key steps in the gestational diabetes screening pathway:
Stage 3. Key steps in the ophthalmic services referral pathway