The posting
Job Description:
KANSAS COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE
Kansas Health Science University, Inc. · 217 E. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67202
CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY — REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
OPTOMETRIC DIRECTOR (OPTOMETRY LEAD)
Rural Health Transformation Program — Posting No. RHTP-2026-01
Issued: October 30, 2026 · Responses due: November 13, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Central
1. Background
The Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KansasCOM), a college of Kansas Health Science University, Inc., is the recipient of a Rural Health Transformation Program award from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, under KDHE Subaward Agreement No. 332072-001-15 (Federal Assistance Listing 93.798, Rural Health Transformation Program; Federal Award Identification No. RHTCMS332072-01-02). The project deploys autonomous artificial-intelligence diabetic retinopathy screening at up to seven rural primary-care and Federally Qualified Health Center sites in Kansas, and a robotic telehealth slit lamp for remote ophthalmic examination at a rural clinical site. KansasCOM is seeking qualifications from licensed optometrists interested in serving as Optometric Director on a part-time, independent-contractor basis for a fixed fee. This opportunity is posted publicly on kansascom.org and may also be sent directly to qualified individuals.
2. Role and Scope of Services
The Optometric Director will provide administrative and clinical-quality oversight of the diabetic retinopathy screening program across all participating sites. The engagement is administrative and quality-oversight in nature: the Optometric Director does not examine, diagnose, or treat patients, and does not interpret individual patient images, under this engagement. Clinical decisions about patients remain with the treating providers at the sites. The Optometric Director will:
1. Provide oversight of diabetic retinopathy screening quality at participating sites, including review of image-quality and positive-screen metrics and recommendation of corrective action.
2. Establish, document, and manage the referral workflow for patients with positive or ungradable screening results at each site, including closed-loop tracking of completed referrals to eye-care providers, and ensure appropriate compliance with scheduled subspecialty appointments.
3. Work with site clinical leadership to integrate screening and referral into existing diabetic care-management programs and EHR workflows; serve as the clinical representative in EHR/IT integration planning.
4. Develop and maintain written, program-level guidance for site staff on the meaning of the screening-result categories (negative, positive, ungradable) and standard patient-communication language for each; support alignment of screening protocols across sites. The Optometric Director does not advise on any individual patient’s results or care.
5. Participate in site onboarding and training with the Clinical Trainer; provide clinical input to the IRB-approved protocol and the program evaluation; contribute to data interpretation, reports to KDHE, and dissemination.
6. Participate in project team meetings (about twice monthly).
3. Engagement Terms
• Type: independent contractor agreement with a statement of work and a fixed fee. The contractor is responsible for his or her own taxes and benefits (IRS Form 1099).
• Fee: a fixed fee of $30,000 for the services described above over the full term, paid in equal monthly installments. Effort is expected to average approximately 0.2 FTE, spread over the term as the work requires and heaviest during site onboarding; the fee is not adjusted for hours actually worked.
• Term: the grant performance period, October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
• Travel to sites outside Sedgwick County is reimbursed at actual cost at the State of Kansas travel rates required by the grant (lodging and meals up to the U.S. GSA per diem rates for the destination, as adopted by the State of Kansas; mileage at the State of Kansas rate), and is not part of the fixed fee.
• This engagement is funded by a federal award and is subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200; the agreement will include the federal contract provisions required by KDHE (Attachment X), including records retention for ten (10) years after final payment and access to records, nondiscrimination, whistleblower notice, and debarment and anti-lobbying certifications. Execution of the agreement is subject to prior written approval by KDHE.
• Public statements: the agreement will require that any publication, presentation, press release, social media post, or other public material the contractor prepares describing the project include the funding disclosure and acknowledgement of federal support set out in Section 8 below, and be furnished to KansasCOM at least ten (10) days before release so that it can be submitted to KDHE for the review the grant requires.
4. Minimum Qualifications
Respondents must meet all of the following to be considered. Please address each item specifically in your statement:
a. Doctor of Optometry degree and current, unrestricted license to practice optometry in the State of Kansas, in good standing.
b. Experience practicing in, or in a formal co-management relationship with, an ophthalmology practice, in addition to optometric practice experience (so that the Optometric Director can design referral pathways that work on both sides of the referral).
c. Ocular disease management experience, including management or co-management of diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, or other chronic ocular disease, consistent with Kansas scope of practice.
d. Experience with diabetic eye testing and management, including dilated examination, retinal imaging (fundus photography and/or OCT), grading or interpretation of diabetic retinopathy findings, and coordination with primary care or endocrinology.
e. Experience providing eye care to underserved populations, such as practice in a Federally Qualified Health Center, rural health clinic, safety-net hospital, community health program, or comparable setting serving uninsured, Medicaid, or rural patients.
f. Not excluded or debarred from participation in federal health care or procurement programs.
5. Evaluation Criteria
Responses meeting the minimum qualifications will be evaluated by KansasCOM using the following weighted criteria and a standard scoring form. Because the fee is fixed, respondents are evaluated on qualifications and availability; award will be made to the respondent whose qualifications are most advantageous to the project (2 C.F.R. § 200.320(a)(2)).
Combined ophthalmology and optometry experience — depth of work within or alongside ophthalmology; understanding of referral and co-management — 25 points
Ocular disease management experience — breadth, recency, and volume, with emphasis on diabetic eye disease — 20 points
Diabetic testing and management experience — imaging, interpretation/grading, care coordination with primary care — 20 points
Underserved-population experience — FQHC/rural/safety-net practice; familiarity with barriers to follow-up and referral completion — 20 points
Availability and site proximity — ability to work within participating sites’ workflows and attend onboarding and team meetings throughout the term — 15 points
Total — 100 points
6. How to Respond
Please submit the following by email to Dasa V. Gangadhar, MD, Principal Investigator, at [email protected], with the subject line “Posting No. RHTP-2026-01 — Optometric Director.” Responses must be received by the due date stated above; late responses may not be considered.
1. A current curriculum vitae.
2. Kansas optometry license number and verification of good standing.
3. A one-page statement (maximum) describing your experience in ophthalmology and optometry settings, your disease-management and diabetic eye-care experience, and your work with underserved populations.
4. Confirmation of your availability during the term, including any limits arising from current employment.
5. Two professional references.
Questions may be directed to the same address. KansasCOM may ask respondents to participate in a brief telephone or video interview. Submissions become part of KansasCOM’s grant procurement file and may be reviewed by KDHE and federal auditors.
7. Conditions
This request does not obligate KansasCOM to award an agreement or to pay any cost of preparing a response. KansasCOM reserves the right to reject any or all responses, to waive minor informalities, to negotiate the scope with the selected respondent, and to cancel this request if grant funding is reduced or withdrawn. KansasCOM does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or any other protected status in its contracting. The selected respondent will be screened against the SAM.gov exclusion list and the HHS-OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities before award, and will be required to complete human-subjects (CITI) training if listed on the project’s IRB-approved protocol, to comply with HIPAA and participating-site policies, and to sign a conflict-of-interest disclosure. The engagement is an independent-contractor engagement: the contractor carries automobile insurance for any vehicle used for site travel and is not covered by KansasCOM’s workers’ compensation or employee benefit programs; no other insurance is required. A respondent employed by a participating site must disclose that employment and will be required to recuse from any KansasCOM decision concerning that site.
8. Funding Disclosure and Acknowledgement of Federal Support
This posting and the project it describes are supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, as part of a financial assistance award totaling $677,248. Of total project costs of $820,348, 82.6 percent ($677,248) is funded by CMS/HHS and 17.4 percent ($143,100) is funded by a non-governmental source, the Wichita Eye Foundation. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Kansas Health Science University offers a generous compensation and benefits package, as well as the opportunity to work for a leader in the field of education. Some of our key benefits include: generous paid time-off, medical and dental coverage, company-paid life and disability insurance, retirement plan with employer contribution, multiple flexible spending accounts (FSA), tuition reimbursement, professional development, and regular employee appreciation events.
Kansas Health Science University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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