Baseline data was collected during the first year the group was formed. Such visits, while appropriate and encouraged, do represent lost productivity since employees are away from their work station. Duration of such visits may be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or possibly more if paramedics are called. Visits were tallied at the ordinal level with each visit counted as one incident. Evaluation of medical claims data would have aided in evaluation but a process to access specific data was not available.
Efforts are underway to provide access to that information in the future.
Savings per participant would have been higher had that data been retrievable. Question three was evaluated by self-report on a written questionnaire. The questionnaire was reviewed for content validity by a Certified Nurse Diabetic Educator who is the current President of the Arizona Association of Certified Diabetic Educators. Revisions were made based upon her suggestions prior to distribution. The questionnaires were mailed to participants who are themselves Diabetic.