QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF REFERRALS TO DIABETES EDUCATION

Abstract

Diabetes is a nationwide health concern and the seventh leading cause of death in the Unites States. The disease and its complications negatively impact the health of the patients and increase health care costs. As a chronic disease, diabetes requires self-care on a daily basis, including lifestyle behaviors, medications adherence, and metabolic control. However, patients often failed an effective management of their conditions, which highlighted the need of diabetes self-management education and diabetes self-management support. A current evidence suggests the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education and support on improving clinical outcomes of diabetic patients. However, a literature review shows that providers do not always refer patients because they do not acknowledge the efficacy of diabetes education or they are not aware of available resources. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the number of patient referrals to diabetes education. The project was implemented at private non-profit clinic in Eastern North Carolina. The participants of the project were four primary care providers and one health coach. During an implementation phase, an educational session regarding the importance of diabetes education was provided and educational material was distributed to the providers and the health coach. Pre-implementation (4-weeks period), out of 144 patients seen by providers six patients were referred to diabetes education that corresponded to four percent. Post-implementation (6-weeks period), out of 245 patients seen by providers 17 patients were referred to diabetes education that corresponded to seven percent. After analyzing data, it had been concluded that there was a small increase in referrals post-implementation.