Keeping Eye Care in the Community: AEYE Health at the 2026 National Tribal Health Conference

Adi Haupt
10 minutes ago
3 min read

From August 16 to 21, health leaders from across Indian Country will gather at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona for the National Indian Health Board's 2026 National Tribal Health Conference. This year's theme, "Sovereignty in Health: Our Nations, Our Health," speaks to something we believe strongly at AEYE Health: the best care is care that communities can deliver on their own terms, close to home. We are honored to be exhibiting, and we would love to show you our work in person.

A disparity worth naming, and the progress worth building on

Diabetes burdens American Indian and Alaska Native communities more than any other population in the country. In 2024, AI/AN adults were 36% more likely than U.S. adults overall to have diabetes (HHS Office of Minority Health).

That burden carries into eye health. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of preventable vision loss, and left unchecked it can progress silently until irreversible damage is already done.

But this is not only a story of disparity. It is also a story of what Tribal-led public health can accomplish.

Decades of sustained investment through the Special Diabetes Program for Indians have driven real, measurable declines in diabetic retinopathy across Indian Country, with rates now comparable to the general population in many settings (JAMA Ophthalmology, 2023, drawing on data from more than 8,000 patients across 75 clinics in 20 states). That progress belongs to the Tribal health programs, clinicians, and community members who built it.

Making every screening count

An effective screening program closes the loop on the spot: catching diabetic retinopathy early, turning the image into a clear diagnosis, discussing it with the patient, and getting those who need care to follow-up and treatment. That is where sight is saved.

While progress has been made, no solution has closed the care gap. External referrals add extra trips and suffer from low follow-through. Meanwhile, in-clinic teleretinal screening simplifies imaging but still leaves the loop open, introducing delayed diagnosis, operational friction, and high staff burden. Without immediate results, clinic teams are left chasing patients days later to deliver diagnoses and schedule care, keeping the care gap wide open.

That is the gap AEYE Health was built to close.

Point of care screening with Fully-Autonomous AI

Today, AEYE-DS is the fastest growing solution for diabetic eye exams in the United States, being a point-of-care diabetic retinopathy screening that takes less than a minute. It is the first and only fully autonomous AI FDA-cleared for use with a portable camera, and the only AI that requires just one image per eye, without dilation, for the screening. A nurse or medical assistant uses AEYE-DS to produce a diagnostic result on the spot. No specialist over-read, no waiting on a distant reading center. Because the result is instant, the clinician can discuss it during the same visit and, when disease is found, make a meaningful referral for follow-up and treatment right then, while the patient is still in the room.

The operational case is just as clear. Point-of-care screening closes the diabetic eye exam gap in HEDIS (CPT code 92229), supports Star Ratings, and folds into the primary care workflow. Most importantly, it keeps care in the community, supporting the diabetes work Tribal health programs are already leading rather than routing patients away from it.

Come see it in action

If you will be at NTHC 2026, we would be glad to walk you through a live screening and talk about how it might fit your clinic or system.

You can find us at Booth #60, or reserve a time that works for you here.

We are looking forward to learning from the leaders, clinicians, and advocates gathered in Chandler, and to being a small part of a much larger effort to protect vision and advance health.

Resoures

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