Item #7
Physician
Group Develops Diabetes Management Tools
A
“report card” to help patients with diabetes better manage their
disease was developed by The National Association of Managed Care
Physicians.
See
this weeks: Tools
For Your Practice (Main
page of DIC)
Diabetes
Patient Report Card
The
association also said it has created an "audit tool" for
physicians to assess the care they provide their diabetic patients.
Both
instruments are part of an effort by the NAMCP to offer tools for
managing chronic conditions. Future report cards may target asthma and
congestive heart failure, for example.
Diabetes,
one of the fastest growing epidemics in the nation, affects an
estimated 17 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes
Association.
NAMCP
hopes "to empower the patient to take an active role in their
care and move toward accountability on the patient side," said
Dr. Bill Williams, executive vice president of the Glen Allen,
Virginia-based association, whose members include medical directors
and physicians involved in various healthcare delivery systems.
The
report card allows patients to track key measures of their health over
time, including spaces for recording hemoglobin A1 levels (a measure
of blood sugar control), the presence of protein in urine samples, LDL
or "bad" cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index and
flu shots. Patients also may keep a log of their exercise activity.
The
physician audit tool guides doctors through a self-assessment of the
care their office provided to diabetic patients. The audit is based on
25 randomly selected patient medical records. For each patient, it
assesses several measures, such as whether a hemoglobin A1c test was
done, the result of that test, and whether an eye exam was given in
the last 24 months.
Physicians
are coming to accept such "care management" tools, and many
now believe they have a positive impact on the practice of medicine,
the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Washington-based think
tank, reported last month.
Another
study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a link
between physicians' use of care management techniques for specific
chronic conditions and certain quality-of-care incentives but said
physicians rarely receive such incentives.
In
the future, physicians will be able to show managed care plans the
quality-of-care they provide chronic care patients by tracking their
performance, Dr. Williams said. If they manage care appropriately, the
plan will save on the cost of avoidable hospitalizations and emergency
room visits, for instance, freeing up money to pay doctors and invest
in patient care, he explained.
With
the appropriate care management, "There's plenty of money to pay
incentives to physicians and do creative things for patients," he
said.
Both
tools are available on the association's Web site or click below
Diabetes
Patient Report Card
Diabetes
Physician Audit Tool
================================
Dr.
Richard Bernstein’s book the Diabetes Solution
Is
on sale for $10.95
Click
Here.
Over
a Million Copies Sold! Dr. Bernstein, a renowned and even
revolutionary
figure in diabetes treatment and diabetic himself will
show
you how you could stop the roller-coaster swings in your blood
sugars,
steady your glucose levels, reduce your insulin intake and
enjoy
the same level of good health that nondiabetics enjoy.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
