Transforming Diabetes Health Care

Transforming Diabetes Health Care Part 1: Changing Practice Cindy Hupke , RN, BS, MBA , Anne W. Camp , MD , Roger Chaufournier , MHSA , Gerald J. Langley , MS and Kevin Little , PhD Abstract In Brief An initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Primary Health Care demonstrates that system-wide changes to improve care for chronically ill, underserved patients are possible and sustainable. Through the bureau’s Health Disparities Collaboratives, nearly 400 federally qualified health centers are focusing on the delivery of high quality care for people with diabetes and are testing and implementing system-wide changes using the Breakthrough Series model, the Chronic Care Model, and the Model for Improvement. This article describes that initiative and some of the results it has achieved collaboratively across the country. Footnotes Cindy Hupke, RN, BS, MBA, lives in DeKalb, Ill., and is the IHI’s national director for the BPHC HDCs. Anne W. Camp, MD, is an internist and endocrinologist at the Fair Haven Community Center and a clinical instructor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. Roger Chaufournier, MHSA, is president and chief executive officer of Patient Infosystems in Rochester, NY, and serves on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Bethesda, Md. Gerald J. Langley, MS, is a statistician with Associates in Process Improvement in Cameron Park, Calif., and senior improvement advisor for the BPHC HDCs. Kevin Little, PhD, is a statistician based in Madison, Wisc., and serves as a BPHC collaboratives technical advisor. Note of disclosure: The authors are all paid consultants for the HDCs described in this article. Mr. Chaufournier is an employee and board member of Patient Infosystems, which provides disease management services for the health care industry, including the federal government. He is also a stock shareholder in Patient Infosystems, Pharmacia, and Solutia, all of which make products or provide services related to the treatment of diabetes. American Diabetes Association