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Contact:

Sharon Grace
Vice President, Public Relations
703.838.0033 ext. 393
sgrace@amga.org

April 26, 2018

AMGA Selects Participants for New Initiative to Improve Eye Care for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
AMGA’s Together 2 Goal® Campaign Launches Innovator Track Program

Alexandria, VA – AMGA announced today that ten medical groups and health systems have been selected for a new initiative designed to find innovative ways to improve eye care for patients with Type 2 diabetes. This national program, known as the Innovator Track’s Eye Care Cohort, is part of AMGA Foundation’s Together 2 Goal® campaign.

Participants selected for the Innovator Track’s Eye Care Cohort include:

Over the course of 12 months, these organizations will develop and measure population-based interventions for managing eye care for people with diabetes. Participants will focus on improving collaboration with specialists and bridging data gaps—two significant challenges to managing eye health among this patient population. Medical groups and health systems will work alongside an advisory committee of clinical experts and AMGA staff to advance these efforts.

“Eye disease can have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people with Type 2 diabetes,” said John W. Kennedy, M.D., chief medical officer at AMGA and president at AMGA Foundation. “The initiative seeks to improve care for this vulnerable population. These innovative organizations are well equipped to tackle this challenge and identify learnings that can help our members and the broader healthcare community improve eye care for patients with diabetes.”

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetes-related eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults (Source: National Eye Institute). Today, 7.7 million Americans have diabetic retinopathy and an estimated 11.3 million will have diabetic retinopathy by 2030 (Source: National Eye Institute). Diabetes-related blindness costs the nation approximately $500 million annually (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Early detection and treatment can prevent or delay blindness due to diabetic retinopathy in 90% of people with diabetes, but 50% or more of them don’t get their eyes examined or are diagnosed too late for effective treatment (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

AMGA launched its national Together 2 Goal® campaign in 2016 with a goal of improving care for 1 million people with Type 2 diabetes by 2019. Campaign participants report on and aim to improve standard Type 2 diabetes measures, including blood sugar control, blood pressure control, lipid management, and testing for kidney disease. With the launch of the Innovator Track, the campaign is expanding its focus to explore other areas of treatment and measurement that could improve outcomes for patients with diabetes.

About the Together 2 Goal® Campaign
AMGA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AMGA, launched Together 2 Goal®, a three-year national campaign to fight the challenge of Type 2 diabetes on March 12, 2016. Together 2 Goal® includes more than 150 medical groups, health systems, nonprofit partners, and corporate collaborators such as the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators, Novo Nordisk, Inc., Geisinger Health System, Henry Ford Health System, Intermountain Healthcare, and Ochsner Health System. The goal of the three-year campaign is to improve care for 1 million people with Type 2 diabetes by 2019. Together2Goal.org

About AMGA Foundation
AMGA Foundation is AMGA’s philanthropic arm that enables medical groups and other organized systems of care to consistently improve health and health care. AMGA Foundation serves as a catalyst, connector, and collaborator for translating the evidence of what works best in improving health and health care in everyday practice. amga.org/foundation

About AMGA
AMGA is a trade association leading the transformation of health care in America. Representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, we advocate, educate, innovate, and empower our members to deliver the next level of high performance health. AMGA is the national voice promoting awareness of our members’ recognized excellence in the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, high-value care. More than 175,000 physicians practice in our member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans. For more information, visit amga.org