What is Diabetes? Diabetes is the name given to disorders in which the body has trouble regulating its blood glucose, or blood sugar levels. Diabetes is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and affects over 20 million Americans. Appropriate and timely screening and treatment can significantly reduce the burden of diabetes.
Highlights
The Baystate Medical Practices have developed strategies and implemented changes to improve processes in order to assure that patients have better control of their diabetes:
- Put into place processes and work flows to assure patients receive tests and care at appropriate times based on evidence-based guidelines.
- Use evidence-based clinical decision-making and education to reduce morbidity and mortality and to optimize patient self-management.
- Leverage of information technology, such as disease-based patient registries and health maintenance.
- Support physician recognition in the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program as developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) in collaboration with the American Diabetic Association (ADA) to recognize physicians who provide “high quality diabetic care.”
To determine our performance, we routinely monitor key diabetes process measures including HbA1c, LDL, nephropathy assessment, blood pressure, and retinal eye health. Treatment goals for patients with diabetes include treating to target for optimal control of HbA1c <7, LDL <100, and blood pressure less than 130/80. Our target is to achieve the HEDIS 90th percentile benchmark for all metrics.
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