Whether it’s counting calories, tracking training runs or managing a chronic disease, to use a tired phrase, “There’s an app for that.” Now more than ever people are using applications for smartphones and tablets to manage their health and fitness regimens.

Diabetic retinopathy – damage to the eye’s retina caused by long-term diabetes – is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults in the U.S. Detection and treatment can reduce vision loss, but, unfortunately, by the time a person has symptoms, permanent vision damage has begun. Thus, early detection, while the patient is asymptomatic, is critical.

Despite treatment guidelines recommending annual eye exams for every adult diabetic, not all patients receive them, especially those in rural locations, of low socioeconomic status or without health insurance. Screening rates in North Carolina are particularly low – only 20 to 30 percent of diabetics – in a state where 1 in 10 adults has diabetes. As Katrina Donahue, M.D., M.P.H., a family physician at University of North Carolina explains, many barriers stand in the way.