A focused telephonic nursing intervention delivers improved adherence to A1c testing.

Compliance with hemoglobin A1c (A1c) testing is suboptimal despite the clear national recommendations and guidelines established for care of patients with diabetes. Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between participation in a diabetes disease management (DM) program and improved adherence to A1c testing. A focused intervention study was initiated to investigate the ability of a DM program to drive improvement in A1c testing. A cohort of 36,327 members experienced a statistically significant increase (29%) in A1c testing while participating in the 6-month focused intervention. This finding demonstrated that a focused DM intervention is able to deliver improvement in a clinical process metric critical for managing patients with diabetes, thereby reducing their risk of disease exacerbation.

The role of health-risk appraisals in disease management.

Managed care organizations and disease management vendors often find themselves in the position of responding to employers who want to administer a health-risk appraisal (HRA) without committing to implementation of a comprehensive health promotion program. The assumption appears to be that information on health risks is sufficient to motivate employees to change their health behaviors in order to reduce estimated health risks. A review of the relevant literature does not substantiate the efficacy of a stand-alone HRA for motivating behavior change. The challenge is to engage employers in informed conversations on what works in health promotion and achieve cost-effective benefits.

Remote physiological monitoring: clinical, financial, and behavioral outcomes in a heart failure population.

This article reports on the outcomes associated with remote physiological monitoring (RPM) conducted as part of a heart failure disease management program. Claims data, medical records, data transmission records, and survey results for 91 individuals ages 50-92 (mean 74 years) successfully completing a heart failure RPM program were analyzed for time periods before, during, and after the monitoring intervention. The program was associated with significant reductions in per member per month costs and emergency room and hospital utilization. More detailed analyses were performed for specific gender and age subgroups. Participant surveys indicated high levels of satisfaction, and improvements in self-perceived health status, self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors. This study is the first to assess the impact of a RPM program following removal of the monitoring equipment. The results indicate that RPM, as a component of a traditional disease management program, has a sustained, beneficial effect on participants' lifestyles after the monitoring period has ended.

Practice changes in glycemic management and outcomes in coronary artery bypass surgery patients.

This study aims to evaluate whether a quality improvement initiative in hyperglycemia management could result in substantiated practice changes and improved outcomes for coronary artery bypass surgery patients. Retrospective chart review and analysis of 103 randomly selected patients hospitalized for coronary artery bypass surgery was used. After the glycemia awareness initiative, the perioperative use of intravenous insulin infusion therapy increased in the total population (P = .01) as well as in the diabetes population (P = .03). Frequency of blood glucose level tests ordered for nondiabetic patients increased from 2.8 per day to 4.3 per day (P = .38). Blood glucose values improved in the diabetic population (Ps = .02, .048). The average length of stay improved in all nondiabetic patients (10.7-8.1 days, P = .07) including those who had coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiac catheterization (7.8-6.2 days, P = .09) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery with catheterization with complications (15.0-9.0 days, P = .12). The glycemia awareness initiative resulted in a positive impact on practice patterns. Undiagnosed diabetes and impaired fasting glucose are important and unrecognized issues within this hospital population. It is recommended that healthcare practitioners assume that cardiac patients have an increased likelihood of impaired fasting glucose and hyperglycemia. Advanced practice nurses can improve patient outcomes by ordering glucose testing and glycemic management as a routine practice for all cardiac surgery patients, regardless of diabetes diagnosis. Cardiac staff nurses can recommend glucose testing and screening for prediabetes and diabetes as a routine part of all nursing assessment.

Case study of American Healthways' diabetes disease management program.

Disease management has been defined as a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications for populations with conditions in which patient self-care efforts are significant (Disease Management Association of America, 2005). The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the diabetes disease management program offered by American Healthways (AMHC) and highlight recently reported results of this program (Villagra, 2004a; Espinet et al., 2005).