Educational intervention leads to improved blood-pressure control and patient oversight
THURSDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with diabetes, simple low-cost care initiatives may lead to significant clinical improvements, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, held from May 13 to 17 in Houston.
Pardeep Bansal, M.D., of the Scranton-Temple Health Center in Pennsylvania, and colleagues reviewed the charts of 272 patients at three clinics before and after an intervention that included lectures by an endocrinologist and a diabetes
initiative team given to clinic staff; provision of microfilaments to all residents; use of diabetes flow sheet and a diabetes poster for patient and staff education; and implementation of a Medicare physician quality reporting initiative.
The researchers found that the intervention was associated with improved rates of optimal blood pressure control (from 46 to 51 percent), documented foot exams (from 46 to 84 percent), and documented hemoglobin A1c readings (from 76 to 94 percent). However, the intervention was not associated with improvements in mean hemoglobin A1c levels.
"Out of these different interventions, probably patient's education is the most important factor in improving the patient's outcome," the authors conclude.
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