Report: Cleveland doctors, patients show some improvement with diabetes management

A follow-up report examining diabetes management by Better Health Greater Cleveland found some reason for optimism (Source: “Doctors, patients doing better at managing diabetes,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 27, 2009).

The Community Health Checkup found that doctors and patients are doing slightly better at managing diabetes than they were when the group’s first report was released in 2007. The study included about 25,000 Northeast Ohio patients.

Among the findings were that 40 percent of patients meet standards for clinical outcomes (blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol level, weight, documented non-smoker)  from July 2007 to June 2008, compared to 38 percent in calendar tear 2007. Similarly, the percentage of patients meeting process standards (A1C test, kidney screening, annual eye exam and pneumonia vaccination) jumped from 46 percent to 50 percent.

However, the report also found continued disparities. “Safety-net practices and those using paper-based medical records continue to do less well than more advantaged practices,” wrote Better Health Greater Cleveland Director Dr. Randall Cebul, in the report’s executive summary. “Likewise, we observe poorer outcomes among non-white and poorer patients, as well as those with lower educational attainment. Perhaps most challenging are poorer Outcomes among our uninsured patients, whose achievement was both lower than insured patients and showed no improvement over the two year-long measurement periods.”

The Better Health Greater Cleveland is one of 14 Robert Wood Johnson-funded initatives nationwide that are part of the foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality program.