Contributors to Patients’ Ratings of Quality of Care Among Ethnically Diverse Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract Background The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recently defined cardiovascular risk classes for subjects with diabetes. Aim of this study was to explore the distribution of subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) by cardiovascular risk groups according to the ESC classification and to describe the quality indicators of care, with particular regard to cardiovascular risk factors. Methods The study is based on data extracted from electronic medical records of patients treated at the 258 Italian diabetes centers participating in the AMD Annals initiative. Patients with T2D were stratified by cardiovascular risk. General descriptive indicators, measures of intermediate outcomes, intensity/appropriateness of pharmacological treatment for diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors, presence of other complications and overall quality of care were evaluated. Results Overall, 473,740 subjects with type 2 diabetes (78.5% at very high cardiovascular risk, 20.9% at high risk and 0.6% at moderate risk) were evaluated. Among people with T2D at very high risk: 26.4% had retinopathy, 39.5% had albuminuria, 18.7% had a previous major cardiovascular event, 39.0% had organ damage, 89.1% had three or more risk factors. The use of DPP4-i markedly increased as cardiovascular risk increased. The prescription of secretagogues also increased and that of GLP1-RAs tended to increase. The use of SGLT2-i was still limited, and only slightly higher in subjects with very high cardiovascular risk. The overall quality of care, as summarized by the Q score, tended to be lower as the level of cardiovascular risk increased. Conclusions A large proportion of subjects with T2D is at high or very high risk. Glucose-lowering drug therapies seem not to be adequately used with respect to their potential advantages in terms of cardiovascular risk reduction. Several actions are necessary to improve the quality of care.

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Impact of electronic diabetes registry ‘Meaningful Use’ on quality of care and hospital utilization

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association ◽

10.1093/jamia/ocv040 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 242-247 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Wencui Han ◽

Raj Sharman ◽

Arvela Heider ◽

Nancy Maloney ◽

Min Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Quality Of Care ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Meaningful Use ◽

Hospital Utilization ◽

Utilization Rate ◽

Diabetic Patients ◽

Diabetes Registry

Abstract Objective To investigate whether the use of diabetes registries meeting Meaningful Use core objectives in primary care practices is associated with differences in quality of care and hospital utilization rates. Materials and methods A practice assessment survey was conducted to identify whether and how practices were using diabetes registries. Insurance claims data from 2010 were used to compare the health outcomes of patients from practices that used diabetes registries meeting Meaningful Use–related objectives to the outcomes of patients from other practices. Logistic hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. Results Records from 12,514 diabetic patients (including 10 809 with type 2 diabetes) from 50 urban practices were included in the analysis. The results suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated in practices using registries for patient reminders were more likely to have completed the recommended laboratory testing (odds ratio [OR] 1.26, p < 0.01) and dilated retinal examinations (OR 1.14, p < 0.01). Patients in practices using registries for quality improvement were less likely to have ‘avoidable hospitalization’ (OR 0.83, p < 0.01) and emergency room visits (OR 0.76, p < 0.01). The use of a diabetes registry did not have a significant impact on the quality of care or hospital utilization for patients with type 1 diabetes. Conclusion Use of diabetes registries meeting Meaningful Use core objectives is associated with higher completion or recommended lab tests and a lower hospital utilization rate for patients with type 2 diabetes.

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