Diabetes

Information technology will be crucial to pushing disease prevention efforts in healthcare.

Accountable care is forcing providers to develop new capacities and strategies for managing cost and quality trends. Prospectively managing the health of populations requires shifting the focus of care delivery from episodic interventions to continuous population management. As a result, accountable care organizations (ACOs) are dedicating considerable focus to developing the infrastructure and tools needed to help patients manage their chronic conditions. This is a significant departure from traditional care-delivery models and will require provider organizations to develop new partnerships and embrace new methods.

Peer Exchange: Recorded during Patient-Centered Diabetes Care, Princeton, N.J., April 10, 2014.

During the first panel discussion at PCDC 2014, "Addressing Challenges in Diabetes," the panelists talked about individualizing patient care.

Dr Benner presented a program that helps providers improve medication adherence among their patients.

During his keynote address, Dr Gabbay spoke about the means of improving patient care and how new practice models, implemented at Joslin, have revolutionized the field.

A former triathlete and a T1DM patient, Jay Hewitt, was the special guest speaker at the PCDC 2014 meeting.

Dr Islam talked about how socioeconomic models are built to care for diabetic patients with diverse backgrounds.

A new Kentucky state law that expands prescribing authority for advanced practice registered nurses took effect Tuesday, the same day that a study was published touting the benefits of having nurses manage care for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

People with type 1 or 2 diabetes now have a new means of getting their medication, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval on Friday of the first inhaled medicine for the blood sugar disease.

Geisinger Health System's use of a diabetes care system among high-risk patients produced lower risks of myocardial infarction, stroke and retinopathy over a three-year period, according to a study in The American Journal of Managed Care. Best of all, most of the benefit accrued in the first year of care.

Using a system for primary care management of patients with diabetes may reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and retinopathy over a 3-year period.

Adherence is important to improving the health outcomes of patients with diabetes. Health technology and digital tools are just on way providers are encouraging patients to remain consistent with the treatment regimens.

The Senate introduced legislation this week that would require Medicare to consider patients' finances when deciding whether to punish a hospital for readmission numbers.

Most illnesses today are measured in terms of their effects on daily activities, but who do not always consider the outcomes based on the patient's perspectives. Many clinical studies instead apply standardized measures that identify quality of life as an important outcome. Advancing research methodologies, including new approaches to clinical research, should inform this discussion by centering medical decision making on the preferences of the most important stakeholder-the patient.

As the bill for providing healthcare in the United States continues to grow, hospitals are finding that many of their expenses can be chalked up to patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart failure taking avoidable trips to the emergency room (ER).

Reports that artificial pancreas technology is advancing, and that multiple projects will soon start "at home" studies, created excitement at the 74th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Studies presented at the American Diabetes Association's meeting in San Francisco took a deeper look at what the presence of fat does to overweight children. Researchers found that signs of trouble emerge early, with implications for the treatment of youths with type 1 diabetes, and those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

A symposium on the new drug class, SGLT2 inhibitors, drew plenty of interest from attendees at the American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco. SGLT2 inhibitors have gained notice, both for their ability to reduce A1C levels and for their potential to help patients lose weight.

A symposium that focused on the relationship between behavioral health and diabetes examined how the challenges of living with the disease wear on patients over time, ahead of results presented Sunday showing that much of what is diagnosed as "depression" in diabetes may not be. Presenters offered 3 models for better coordination of care.

Studies released at the 74th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association included results of programs to get patients to take more control over their own care.

A diabetes patient navigator program in Birmingham, Alabama, a joint project of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and Sanofi US, resulted in lower A1C levels for its participants. Patients also reported higher levels of satisfaction in managing their disease.

Two studies presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions show that evaluating diabetes risk and patient health by nation of origin and ethnic background yields richer insights into how the disease affects populations.​