Delivery of integrated diabetes care using logistics and information technology--the Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) program.

Diabetes is a global epidemic, and many affected individuals are undiagnosed, untreated, or uncontrolled. The silent and multi-system nature of diabetes and its complications, with complex care protocols, are often associated with omission of periodic assessments, clinical inertia, poor treatment compliance, and care fragmentation. These barriers at the system, patient, and care-provider levels have resulted in poor control of risk factors and under-usage of potentially life-saving medications such as statins and renin-angiotensin system inhibitors. However, in the clinical trial setting, use of nurses and protocol with frequent contact and regular monitoring have resulted in marked differences in event rates compared to epidemiological data collected in the real-world setting. The phenotypic heterogeneity and cognitive-psychological-behavioral needs of people with diabetes call for regular risk stratification to personalize care. Quality improvement initiatives targeted at patient education, task delegation, case management, and self-care promotion had the largest effect size in improving cardio-metabolic risk factors. The Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) program is an innovative care prototype that advocates a change in clinic setting and workflow, coordinated by a doctor-nurse team and augmented by a web-based portal, which incorporates care protocols and a validated risk engine to provide decision support and regular feedback. By using logistics and information technology, supported by a network of health-care professionals to provide integrated, holistic, and evidence-based care, the JADE Program aims to establish a high-quality regional diabetes database to reflect the status of diabetes care in real-world practice, confirm efficacy data, and identify unmet needs. Through collaborative efforts, we shall evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and cost-effectiveness of this "high tech, soft touch" model to make diabetes and chronic disease care more accessible, affordable, and sustainable.

The metabolic effects of insulin and rosiglitazone combination therapy in Chinese type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the efficacy and safety of thiazolidinedione use in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Our goal was to examine the metabolic effects and tolerability of combination therapy with rosiglitazone and insulin in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy and renal failure. MATERIAL/METHODS: We evaluated the metabolic effects and tolerability of rosiglitazone as an add-on therapy to insulin in 12 Chinese type 2 diabetic patients (5 males and 7 females) with nephropathy and renal impairment. The mean age of these patients was 65+/-8.3 years, and the mean duration of disease was 16.5+/-8.6 years. The initial daily dosage of rosiglitazone, 2 mg daily, was increased to 4 mg if their fasting plasma glucose concentrations were above 10 mmol/L after 4 weeks. RESULTS: Over a mean period of 15.5 months, HbA1c improved significantly following the addition of rosiglitazone, from 8.57+/-1.42% to 7.48+/-1.3% (p=0.01). There was a trend towards improved lipid profile with this combination therapy, but it was not statistically significant. There was no major adverse events except for minimal weight gain (71.7+/-13.6 kg vs 73.9+/-13.1 kg, p=0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with rosiglitazone and insulin has beneficial metabolic effects and is generally well tolerated in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy and mild to moderate renal failure.