Florida’s Federal Health Centers Failing Eye Care Needs

TOPLINE:

Few federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in Florida offer eye care services such as vision checks, prescriptions for glasses, and dilated eye exams, primarily provided by optometrists. The limited availability of these services and the absence of ophthalmologists at these centers highlight a significant lack of access to eye care for underserved populations in this state.

METHODOLOGY:

• This cross-sectional study conducted between November 2023 and February 2024 assessed the availability and accessibility of eye care services in FQHCs located in both urban and rural areas of Florida.
• Researchers contacted FQHCs listed in the US Health Resources and Services Administration database; overall, 473 FQHC sites were included in the analysis.
• Data collection involved systematic telephone inquiries to FQHCs, followed by verification through follow-up calls and cross-referencing of websites.
• The primary outcomes were the presence of eye care services, types of services offered, types of clinicians, frequency of services, and availability of pediatric services.

TAKEAWAY:

• Only 8.9% FQHCs in Florida reported offering eye care services. Out of 67 counties, 53 (79.1%) had no FQHCs offering eye care services, whereas 14 (20.9%) reported having at least one FQHC providing such services.
• All FQHCs that offered eye care services did so using optometrists, with no clinics reporting care by ophthalmologists.
• The frequency of eye care services varied, with some clinics offering daily services and others offering them only on certain days of the month.
• Counties in Florida that did not have FQHCs providing eye care had rates of uninsured individuals similar to those with at least one FQHC, underscoring the lack of access to eye care for underserved populations in the state.

IN PRACTICE:

“Their findings underscore the urgent need for actionable strategies to improve access to eye care in order to reduce the pervasive disparities in vision health across the United States,” experts wrote in an editorial.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Nikhita Yadlapalli from the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, and published online on September 19, 2024, in JAMA Ophthalmology.

LIMITATIONS:

This study relied on phone calls to gather data, which led to potential discrepancies in staff knowledge, willingness to share information, and comparisons between health centers. No specific criteria were used to select those who were interviewed over the phone, and the questions asked were not formally validated. Excluding school-based health centers and nonophthalmic specialty clinics led to an underestimation of the eye care services available.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not disclose any sources of funding. One author disclosed receiving personal fees from various companies outside the submitted work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.