
Lauren Patty Daskivich, MD, MSHS
Director, Ophthalmic Services and Eye Health Programs, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
UCLA RWJF CSP ’10-12
Dr. Daskivich is Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Teleretinal Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Program and the Chair of the Ophthalmology Specialty-Primary Care Workgroup, as well as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at USC. Her research and policy interests include developing and evaluating the DHS-wide Eye Health Program to expand eye care services for LA County patients in the largest publicly operated county safety net public health system in the United States. Her innovative work using teleretinal diabetic retinopathy screening (TDRS) in 15 primary care clinics moved diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening into the primary care setting, which eliminated the need for more than 14,000 visits to specialty eye care practitioners. Results saw a reduction in median wait time to screening for diabetic retinopathy from 158 days to 17 days (89% reduction in wait time), and an increase in the rate of screening for patients diagnosed with diabetes from 57% to 69% (a 16.3% increase in screening rate). Noting that only 60% of patients with diabetes in the US receive recommended annual eye examinations – that rate dropping to less than 25% in the safety net – according to the study conducted by Dr. Daskivich and her team (JAMA Intern Med. May 2017).