Description
This NOFO solicits non-research cooperative agreement applications to enhance CDC’s Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS), using data from a variety of sources, in order to assess U.S. national-, state-, and county-level prevalence of major eye diseases, vision impairment, and utilization of eye care. The strategies and activities in this NOFO focus on maintaining, improving, and enhancing the VEHSS, which is the only interactive, comprehensive collection of vision and eye health data in the United States. The VEHSS includes data from 5 national surveys, 4 administrative claims databases, an electronic health record registry, and published examination studies. Important activities of this NOFO include adding new years of data, streamlining indicators, identifying data gaps, and prioritizing data sources and key indicators that have the greatest value for public health surveillance. The project will also identify and add other sources of vision and eye health data, for example, data from Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Service, and other electronic health record systems. The NOFO will incorporate into the VEHSS national-, state-, and county-level data on social determinants of health and improve functionality of the VEHSS and end-user experience by enhancing data visualization and presentation. Lastly, this project will focus on outreach and dissemination of the VEHSS to key partners to drive an increase in end-user engagement with the surveillance system.