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NUMC launches goals to help diabetics avoid complicationsDiabetes can be a crippling disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people without diabetes. Other serious complications can include kidney and vision problems. New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) has launched some very specific goals to help their diabetic patients avoid some of these long-term complications, or at the very least, put them off for as long as possible. "The corker with this disease is that it won't necessarily kill you, but without good control, it will maim you," said Brenda Nielsen, NUMC Clinic Manager. Nielsen cited examples such as a 45-year-old having a stroke, or a patient having to live out their life in a nursing home due to blindness or amputations. "We know that good control helps defer some of these potential conditions."
The five specific diabetes goals that NUMC is striving for include:
"Our overall goal is that we have 27 percent of our diabetic patients in compliance with all five of these goals by the end of this year," Dr. Jorve said. At the beginning of 2008, 13 percent of diabetic patients met all five of these care goals. "We are currently at 22 percent. Our goal in 2009 will increase." Achieving these five goals is definitely an "easier said than done" challenge for the patients, Jorve said. To help them reach the goals, providers have implemented some new practice standards. "We have started seeing patients more often – every three months if they aren't doing well and every six months if they are maintaining the disease well," Jorve said. "Also, medication refills for hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol will be limited to every six months and then the patient will have to come back to see their primary care provider. Previously, it was up to the provider's discretion as to how long their prescription would be written for." The more closely a physician can monitor a diabetic patient, the better, Nielsen said. "If you go a year – or two or three years – without being seen by a physician, the damange may already be done and permanent," Nielsen said. Diabetic patients are also among the population of patients who have a great deal to gain from using MyChart – Allina's online patient health record. Not only can they make appointments and receive lab test results via MyChart, but they can also graph their lab results and track their health statistics over a period of months. "Knowing and keeping track of their numbers is a key component to managing a chronic disease like diabetes," Jorve said. Diabetes education classes are also an important component to maintaining good health, Nielsen said. "Most insurance companies will pay for up to 10 hours of education for newly diagnosed patients and after that two hours of education a year," Nielsen said. "Health insurance companies realize that the complications from diabetes cost their subscribers more money and therefore their company more money. By helping diabetes patients maintain their condition, they lower healthcare costs." Related Links Diabetes education: Classes and support  Back to Health Edition |
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