# Health Disparities in Utilization, Quality, and Outcomes for Three Common Ocular Conditions (HealthDOC)

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $464,338

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
Multiple
that
minority
CHIP
of
The
understood.
ophthalmology
retinopathy.
past studies provide strong evidence that disparities exist in healthcare, i ncluding in ophthalmology, and
 social determinant of health (SDH) play an important role for explaining differences in ethnic and racial
receipt of healthcare. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and later the Medicare Access and
Reauthorization Act of 2015, there has been emphasis on medical quality measures with implementation
the Medicare Incentive Payment System (MIPS) with the use of National Quality Forum (NQF) related metrics.
 association between quality measures for ophthalmic conditions and healthcare disparities is poorly
 In fact, there has been little research to inform how the social determinants of health impact
care practices and quality metrics by racial/ethnic groups with cataract, glaucoma, and diabetic
The proposedHealth Disparities in Utilization, Quality, and Outcomes for Three Common Ocular
Conditions (HealthDOC) study
employing
clinically
will address prevailing gaps between clinical quality measures and practice by
a rigorous health services and outcomes research study design that evaluates ophthalmic NQF, and
meaningful measures using the S ight OU tcomes R esearch C ollaborativ E ( SOURCE to study health)
disparities. SOURCE links and extracts data across healthcare systems from electronic health records to capture
visual changes, clinical details (typically not available but through clinical trials), and health disparities, which is
ideal for responding to Healthy People 2030 ocular goals. SOURCE overcomes major data barriers in
ophthalmology health disparities work with visual outcome details for measuring treatment, quality, and
outcomes, joined with key information on race and ethnicity, the biological variable of gender, SDH measures,
medications, hemoglobin A1c, Centers for Disease Control National Death Index Data and others. This study
will examine three major eye diseases (cataract, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease) and quantify the impact of
SDH on achievement of established and peer reviewed NQF ocular quality metrics, and clinically meaningful
measures on visual outcomes, and non-ocular morbidity and mortality for the chronic diseases of glaucoma and
diabetic retinopathy. The ocular conditions we focus on are the most common causes of irreversible visual
impairment and blindness in the U.S. and fulfills the target goals for National Eye Institute and Healthy People
2030. This
on Eye Care Disparities),
leveraging
states
disparities
National
innovative, 2 stakeholder-driven
3 ) aligned with healthcare management using accepted quality metrics (NQF), and 4
existing data from electronic health records of 27 ophthalmology program sites covering multiple
 and regions, focused on quality improvement initiatives aimed at future interventions to reduce health
across SOURCE sites and abroad. This project aligns well with the missions of ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10559239
- **Project number:** 1R01EY034444-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** DUSTIN D. FRENCH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $464,338
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-03-01 → 2028-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10559239

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10559239, Health Disparities in Utilization, Quality, and Outcomes for Three Common Ocular Conditions (HealthDOC) (1R01EY034444-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10559239. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*