New College initiative aims to 'transform diabetes care'
From the June ACP Observer, copyright © 2005 by the American College of Physicians.
By Phyllis Maguire
SAN FRANCISCO—ACP leaders at Annual Session announced a new and massive initiative to improve diabetes care—the single largest project the College has undertaken in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company.
With an unrestricted educational grant provided by Novo Nordisk, the three-year ACP-ACP Foundation Diabetes Initiative is designed to disseminate components of high-quality diabetes care to physicians and patients throughout the country, as well as recognize physician practices that demonstrably improve diabetes care.
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A key component of the new project is to promote a team approach to diabetes care. |
"The scope of the project," then College President Charles K. Francis, FACP, told reporters at a press conference announcing the initiative, "is to transform diabetes care in the United States."
Dr. Francis listed the disease's grim statistics: More than 18 million Americans suffer from diabetes, including more than 5 million who are undiagnosed. Diabetes is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, disproportionately affecting minority groups, while the disease now presents in patients much earlier in life.
A key component of the new project, Dr. Francis said, is to promote the practice of diabetes care that "isn't divided among different turfs. While physicians will continue to play a key role, this initiative is designed to also change the practice patterns of subspecialists, physician assistants, nurse educators and patients themselves."
New practice tools
Novo Nordisk welcomed the ACP-designed initiative, said endocrinologist Alan C. Moses, ACP Member, Novo Nordisk's associate vice president of medical affairs. "We were interested," Dr. Moses told reporters, "in a program that was high quality, evidence-based, testable and rewardable."
One of the project's main goals, says Vincenza Snow, FACP, the initiative's Clinical Director, is to recognize physician practices that improve diabetes care.
Vincenza Snow, FACP, the College's Director of Clinical Programs and the Clinical Director of the new initiative, outlined new ACP products and services that the $9.3 million grant will support over the next three years. These include:
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A new MSKAP program for diabetes self-assessment designed to be used by all members of a diabetes health care team, including nurse educators and physician assistants.
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A CD-ROM to help physicians either design their own patient registry database for diabetic patients or teach physicians what to look for in commercial patient registry software products.
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Clinical skills modules on diabetes that will be available to College members and introduced at future Annual Sessions and chapter meetings.
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Patient safety modules on outpatient and inpatient insulin use.
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A recognition program to highlight physicians and medical groups that improve their care of diabetic patients.
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Patient educational materials that promote self-management and will be available in English and Spanish.
Several of the new services and programs should help physicians with pay-for-performance and quality improvement programs related to diabetes, Dr. Snow said. In addition, she added, the College will use grant funds to enhance the existing diabetes content of College products, including PIER and ACP Online. An ACP "portal" (Web site) will bring together all of the College's extensive diabetes information in one electronic format.
Dr. Snow also pointed out that this year's Annual Session featured 16 different workshops and courses related to diabetes care--another first for the College. Over the next three years, she said, the Novo Nordisk grant will help support similar diabetes-care tracks at future Annual Sessions. (For more information on how to participate in initiative programs, contact Mary Kay Crowther, Initiative Administrator, at mkcrowther@acponline.org, or 800-523-1546, ext. 2837.)
"The value of these interventions," said Eric B. Larson, FACP, then Chair of the Board of Regents, who also spoke at the press conference, "is not just in providing education, but in putting tools in the hands of physicians and patients that can change the way they practice and manage this disease."
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