The JVN Advantage

Joslin Vision NetworkTM (JVN) has been proven to significantly increase access to care and facilitate appropriate and efficient use of specialty care providers. Measurable results showing improved care for diabetes are indicators that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), employers and CMS (Medicare) highly value.  Often, these results serve as the bases for pay-for-performance programs that reward providers for improved care.

With JVN, Joslin researchers developed an imaging system and service where patients receive regular retinal evaluations within a primary care physician’s, endocrinologist’s, or other medical practice without the need for pupil dilation. By reducing barriers to eye care, JVN increases the rate of ongoing disease surveillance and facilitates appropriate and timely referral of patients to eye care specialists when needed.

Staff imagers are trained and certified by Joslin to image patients.  JVN images and key patient data are transmitted securely via the Internet to the JVN Reading and Evaluation Center at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. There they are evaluated by an expert team of ophthalmologists, optometrists and clinical staff. Utilizing the latest imaging technology, Joslin’s expert team interprets images, identifies specific levels of diabetic retinopathy and provides appropriate treatment guidance for each patient. The Joslin team also identifies ocular pathologies other than diabetic retinopathy if observed.
 
JVN is used extensively in commercial and federal health care systems, nationally and internationally, and it is based on more than a decade of research, development and testing. The accuracy of JVN as a diagnostic tool for diabetic retinopathy has been rigorously described and validated in several scientific peer review journals. These reports and other publications have provided full evidence of JVN’s clinical effectiveness and its ability to compare favorably with:

• “Gold Standard” 35 mm stereo slides with dilated pupils  (Ophthalmology 2001)
• Clinical exam through dilated pupils by retinal specialist (Retina 2003)
• Annual follow-up retina exam with retinal specialist when previously documented no or mild diabetic retinopathy (American Journal of Ophthalmology 2005)
• Existing eye care professional referral program in increasing the rate of surveillance and treatment of diabetic retinopathy (Diabetes Care 2005)
• Identifying non-diabetic eye disease as compared with clinical exam through dilated pupils by retinal specialist (Ophthalmology May 2006)
• The sensitivity and specificity of dilated retinal exams for detecting diabetic retinopathy  (Diabetes Care, October 2006)