Robert, a Veteran from a rural town in Iowa, recently visited the Mason City VA Clinic to establish his VA care. As part of the process, he was sent to the Technology-based Eye Care Services (TECS) room for an eye screening. Around the same time and several states away, another Veteran named Donald traveled a short distance to the Atlanta VA Clinic for a TECS appointment to get prescription eyeglasses.
Thanks to these TECS visits, Robert and Donald were saved from losing their vision.
TECS is part of VA’s national TeleEye program. It lets Veterans avoid traveling long distances to their closest VA Medical Center to visit an eye care specialist and instead go to their local VA primary care clinic.
During a TECS visit in the clinic, a qualified ophthalmology technician collects information using digital retinal cameras, tonometers, and other ocular testing devices. The clinical information is then sent to a remote VA eye specialist who reviews the images and decides next steps for the Veteran’s care.
