ACP and ACP foundation launch 3-year effort to improve diabetes care

[Guest guest]

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic.

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Public release date: 14-Apr-2005

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-04/acop-aaa041405.php

Contact:

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American College of Physicians

ACP and ACP foundation launch 3-year effort to improve diabetes care

The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American College of

Physicians Foundation (ACPF) launched a major initiative to improve

diabetes care in the United States. Novo Nordisk, a health care company

and world leader in diabetes care, has given the ACP and ACP Foundation

a multimillion-dollar unrestricted educational grant for the three-year

effort.

The new initiative will create and disseminate educational tools and

information for physicians, patients, and other members of the health

care team and will work to raise awareness and teach the best practices

in diabetes care.

The initiative will develop a self-management tool kit to help patients

become working partners with their health care providers in diabetes

care. The patient materials will include information for vulnerable

populations such as the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities,

non-English speakers, and those with low literacy levels -- groups for

whom existing diabetes education materials are particularly limited.

" Internists provide most of the care of people with diabetes in the

United States, " said K. Francis, MD, FACP, FACC, president of

ACP. " We believe this intensive three-year project, combining an

emphasis on highest standards of care, measurable goals for practice in

office settings, and research can dramatically improve diabetes care. "

" To tackle diabetes, we are looking beyond our 116,000 member internists

to the health care team as a whole, " said Dr. Francis. " ACP is dedicated

to promoting evidence-based medicine for care of all chronic diseases,

and we can make a difference in improving the care of patients with

diabetes. "

" Novo Nordisk is committed to working as a catalyst to improve diabetes

prevention and treatment, thereby changing the course of the disease for

good, " said Alan C. Moses, MD, the company's associate vice president

for clinical research and medical affairs in endocrinology. He added,

" We strive to be the preferred partner for patients, healthcare

providers, associations and others who share our vision and plans to

defeat diabetes. A clear example of this is our partnership with ACP, as

this highly respected and effective organization brings tremendous

educational opportunities and resources to its membership, those

physicians on the front lines of diabetes care. The high quality

programming offered by ACP and underwritten by Novo Nordisk will help

create new solutions to address the complicated issue of diabetes care

in the U.S. "

The goals of the three-year project are to:

# Increase physician awareness of the components of high-quality

diabetes care and of the gap between current practice and acceptable

standards of diabetes care.

# Provide proven educational interventions to improve diabetes care.

# Recognize physicians and physician practices that demonstrably improve

care of their patients with diabetes.

At the ACP Annual Session in April in San Francisco, attended by more

than 6,000 internists and other physicians, ACP offered 16 workshops and

courses related to diabetes care. In the next three years, ACP will

enhance diabetes information in many of its existing educational

formats, such as PIER, the Web-based point-of-care clinical decision

support tool; MKSAP, the medical knowledge self-assessment program; and

ACPOnline, the College's Web site. ACP will also develop new materials

that concentrate on team-based care.

--

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