Glucose to Goal: A Model to Support Diabetes Management in Primary Care

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Diabetes education is a very important part of diabetes care. Most people with diabetes receive care in primary care practices where diabetes education is not always available. This project tests a model designed to improve access to diabetes education services.

Detailed Description
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Evidence that diabetes self-management education (DSME) can improve health outcomes has repeatedly been shown and is considered to be a critical component of care. Diabetes educators are highly skilled at addressing diabetes-related clinical and behavioral needs through DSME, but engagement with diabetes educators is underutilized. It has been suggested that poor referral practices and the way in which DSME service is delivered are the problems. Most patients receive diabetes care in primary care yet most DSME programs are distinctly separate from primary care practice. This limits care coordination and diabetes educator access to amenities currently available to primary care. Efforts are underway to change the US health care paradigm with a focus on quality in primary care that includes practice redesign, population management, and communication through electronic medical records. The purpose of this application is to evaluate the deployment of Glucose to Goal, a model relying on a systematic redesign of practice that links diabetes educators services with primary care. This will be compared to the traditional process for DSME delivery, without the direct connection to primary care processes, for an eighteen month period. The hypothesis is that the proportion of primary care provider referrals and patient utilization of diabetes educator services from primary care practices participating in Glucose to Goal will be higher compared to those associated with traditional DSME. It is anticipated that this model will appeal to primary care providers, demonstrate a feasible approach to offering diabetes education in the current health environment, and set the stage for future testing of the model, namely its impact on meaningful improvements on diabetes outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Official Title
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Glucose to Goal: A Model to Support Diabetes Management in Primary Care

Conditions
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Diabetes Mellitus

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Glucose to Goal
* Other: Usual Care


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes Patients referred to diabetes self-management education by their primary care provider Able to read and write English Exclusion Criteria: Clinical diagnosis of type 1 or gestational diabetes Unable to speak or read English

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 75 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Glucose to Goal<br>Three diabetes educators will be assigned to the Glucose to Goal/experimental arm. The educators will each identify two primary care practices of mid to large size to participate in the Glucose to Goal intervention. Patients will not be formally recruited or enrolled. Rather, information documented in the electronic medical record system will be extracted to evaluate patient-level outcomes. Based on a random sampling of mid to large size primary care practices in study communities, an estimated 2,200 patients with diabetes per study group will meet eligibility criteria for DSME referral. | Other: Glucose to Goal<br>* The Glucose to Goal intervention applies elements of the Patient Centered Medical Home (i.e., practice design, decision support, population management, etc) to diabetes education services and operationalizes the current DSME objectives in the primary care setting.<br>|
| Other: Control Group<br>Two usual care diabetes educators will each identify three primary care practices of mid to large size to include in the control arm and participate in the usual care intervention. Uneven group assignment accounts for the amount of time (one day equivalent/per week) that the intervention diabetes educators will devote to each primary care practice versus the full-time availability of the usual care diabetes educators to see patients at the outpatient, hospital-based program. Like the experimental arm, an estimated 2,200 patients with diabetes will meet eligibility criteria for DSME referral. Patients will not be formally recruited or enrolled into the control arm; data will be extracted from the electronic medical record system to evaluate patient-level outcomes. | Other: Usual Care<br>* The control group will follow the traditional DMSE delivery model, which includes primary care providers referring patients to an outpatient, hospital-based diabetes educator for DSME, but in a passive manner (i.e., without proactive patient identification), which is the usual process for referrals.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Provider referral | The proportion of provider referrals for DSME divided by the total number of patients eligible for a referral. Patients will be considered eligible for referral if they were seen by their primary care provider during the intervention period and the provider did not contraindicate DSME for any reason. Referrals (eligibility for and made) will be tracked through electronic medical record review. | Monitor continuously across 18 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Patient participation | Patient participation will be reported as the proportion of patients who participate in DSME divided by the total number of eligible patients from each participating primary care practice during the study period and will take into account patterns and frequency of visits. Patients will be considered eligible if they have received a referral to DSME from their primary care provider. Patients will be offered the opportunity to meet with the diabetes educator for a series of DSME visits and these visits will occur in individual or group format, depending on space, scheduling, etc. The number and content of the visits will be patient-centered (driven by the patient). Patients eligible for and participating in DSME will be tracked through electronic medical record review. | Monitor continuously across 18 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Diabetes Education, Chronic Disease Management, Health Care Delivery, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Primary Care