The effect on patient outcomes remained less clear as these were rarely assessed .
Arrangements for follow-up ( organisational intervention ) also showed a favourable effect on process outcomes .
Multiple interventions in which patient education was added or in which the role of the nurse was enhanced also reported favourable effects on patients ' health outcomes .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Multifaceted professional interventions can enhance the performance of health professionals in managing patients with diabetes .
Organisational interventions that improve regular prompted recall and review of patients ( central computerised tracking systems or nurses who regularly contact the patient ) can also improve diabetes management .
The addition of patient-oriented interventions can lead to improved patient health outcomes .
BACKGROUND Diabetes is a common chronic disease that is increasingly managed in primary care .
Different systems have been proposed to manage diabetes care .
National standard setting for quality of care in general practice: attitudes of general practitioners and response to a set of standards.
The Nederl and s Huisartsen Genootschap ( NHG ) , the college of general practitioners in the Netherl and s , has begun a national programme of st and ard setting for the quality of care in general practice . When the st and ards have been drawn up and assessed they are disseminated via the journal Huisarts en Wetenschap . In a survey , carried out among a r and omized sample of 10 % of all general practitioners , attitudes towards national st and ard setting in general and to the first set of st and ards ( diabetes care ) were studied . The response was 70 % ( 453 doctors ) . A majority of the respondents said they were well informed about the national st and ard setting initiatives instigated by the NHG ( 71 % ) and about the content of the first st and ards ( 77 % ) . The general practitioners had a positive attitude towards the setting of national st and ards for quality of care , and this was particularly true for doctors who were members of the NHG . Although a large majority of doctors said they agreed with most of the guidelines in the diabetes st and ards fewer respondents were actually working to the guidelines and some of the st and ards are certain to meet with a lot of resistance . A better knowledge of the st and ards and a more positive attitude to the process of national st and ard setting correlated with a more positive attitude to the guidelines formulated in the diabetes st and ards . The results could serve as a starting point for an exchange of views about st and ard setting in general practice in other countries
The effect on patient outcomes remained less clear as these were rarely assessed .
Arrangements for follow-up ( organisational intervention ) also showed a favourable effect on process outcomes .
Multiple interventions in which patient education was added or in which the role of the nurse was enhanced also reported favourable effects on patients ' health outcomes .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Multifaceted professional interventions can enhance the performance of health professionals in managing patients with diabetes .
Organisational interventions that improve regular prompted recall and review of patients ( central computerised tracking systems or nurses who regularly contact the patient ) can also improve diabetes management .
The addition of patient-oriented interventions can lead to improved patient health outcomes .
BACKGROUND Diabetes is a common chronic disease that is increasingly managed in primary care .
Different systems have been proposed to manage diabetes care .