Up 32% Since 2002: Growth in Diabetes Costs is 2x Inflation

A few days ago the “The Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2007″ was released by the CDC, ADA and NIH. The new study shows diabetes is costing Americans $174 billion a year; meanwhile, medical expenditures of care for people with diabetes are estimated to be $116 billion with a disproportionate percentage of the costs resulting from treatment and hospitalization of people with diabetes-related complications.  According to the study, this number has increased by 32 percent between 2002 and 2007.  This is not staggerling news for those who are involved in medicine, public health, pharma, managed care, etc….. but what many may not realize is that costs are rising 2 times the general inflation rate which was 15.3% over the same period.  (Data source: www.miseryindex.com).  The growth rate in costs is aligned with the growth rate in the prevalence of diabetes which is up approximately 30% from 2002 to 2007.  (Data sources: CDC with ’06 and ’07 projections by ES Armbrecht).

Thank You: 55 Attend 2008 Winter Meeting

The Coalition welcomed 55 guests to the 2008 Winter Meeting on Jan 30 at the Chesterfield Doubletree.  Dr. Rahul Singal, President/CEO of WorldDoc, delivered an excellent presentation.  He offered attendees an opprortunity to test-drive the WorldDoc system.  If you would like information about the WorldDoc test-drive, just send an email to eric@diabetescoalition.org.  Special thanks to Merck & Co. for their sponsorship of the event.  Moreover, the Coalition expresses its appreciation to everyone who took time away from their families and personal lives to be part of the Winter Meeting.  There were many familiar faces… and many news ones. 

A Call for Women with Type 1 Diabetes, Ages 18-30

A new group is invting young women with Type 1 diabetes (ages 18-30) to join a mentor-support program… learn from older, wiser, experienced women who have walked in similar shoes.  Diva Diabetics is their clever and very descriptive name.  The group facilitators have Type 1 Diabetes themselves and are living examples of having achieved vocational, career, family goals and are willing to help the participants to do the same. What a great idea! If you know of someone who is interested… then pass along the downloadable invitation. Click here.  The first gathering will be at the St. Louis Bread Co in Sunset Hills on Feb 24, 4 PM.  Pleanty of carbohydryates are available at that location.

NCQA Recognition Earned by 95 St. Louis Area Physicians for Excellence in Diabetes Care

Measuring the quality of diabetes care provided by physicians is not an easy task, but the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) is recognizing physicians who can demonstrate it.  The NCQA’s Diabetes Physician Recogonition Program (DPRP) is a voluntary program designed to recognize physicians, who use evidence-based measures and provide excellent care to their patients with diabetes.  The DPRP Program has 10 measures which cover areas such as HbA1c control, blood pressure control, LDL control, eye examinations, nephropathy assessment, and smoking status and cessation advice/treatment.  95 physicians practicing in the greater St. Louis area (93 in MO, 2 in IL) have earned the DPRP distinction.  Nearly all (92%) of the recognized physicians in the State of MO work in the St. Louis area.  This finding may not be by coincidence … Why?  Because the St. Louis Diabetes Coalition began promoting and working on NCQA recognition many years ago… assiting SSM Depaul Medical Group with a quality improvement process that led to their DPRP distinction back in 2004.  The St. Louis Diabetes Coalition applauds each DPRP physician for their commitment to providing high-quality diabetes care.  Click here for a directory of all DPRP physicians. 

Reminder: Winter Meeting on Wed, Jan 30th

If you have not already RSVP’d for the Winter Meeting on Wed, Jan 30th… then please do so.  More than 45 people have already reserved a spot.  If you forget or are unable to RSVP, do not worry… there will be a few extra seats for walk-ins.  The doors for the Winter Meeting will open at 5:30 PM, but the program will not begin until 6:00-ish.  Take time at the beginning to catch-up with colleagues.  The meeting will be held at the Chesterfield Doubletree.  For more info, please read the previous posting about this event.

Diabetes@Work Expands to 4 Worksites in 2007

The Diabetes Coalition’s Diabetes@Work program was provided to employees at 4 St. Louis companies in 2007 – Ameren, Bryan Cave, City of St. Louis, and Smurfit Stone.  All of these companies are members of the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition (BHC).  Special thanks are extended to the BHC and Novo Nordisk who underwrote a portion of program costs with in-kind and financial support.  Under the leadership of diabetes educator extraordinaire Joan McGinnis MSN CDE, Diabetes@Work has grown steadily since it was created in 2003.  You can read about the program’s success at Ameren in an employee newsletter article — “Helping employees manage their diabetes”.

Sharing St. Louis Experience with Detroit

The Greater Detroit Area Health Council’s (GDAHC) Save Lives Save Dollars (SLSD) initiative, in partnership with the American Diabetes Association, sanofi-aventis, and the Detroit Regional Chamber, recently launched a pilot program to help people with diabetes better manage their care.  The pilot aims to help connect employers, community organizations and labor groups with worksite Diabetes Self Management Education (DSME) training that will help employees with diabetes practice better nutrition, weight control and exercise and succeed in performing complex treatment procedures as part of their daily lifestyle routine.  The model is based on the St. Louis Diabetes Coalition’s Diabetes@Work program.  You can read their press release here.

Winter Member Meeting Features WorldDoc President/CEO Dr. Rahul Singal

You are invited to the 2008 Winter Meeting of the St. Louis Diabetes Coalition on Wed, Jan 30, 5:30 – 7:30 PM.  Please register. The meeting will feature a presentation called Getting to Goal with Self-care Tools by Rahul Singal, MD, President/CEO of WorldDoc.  His talk about how new technology and behavior change theory are coming together to change diabetes care outcomes will be fascinating.  The meeting will take place at the Chesterfield Doubletree Hotel.  Since our usual meeting location (Hilton Frontenac) seemed to be a horrible location given the Highway 40 shutdown, we elected to head further West.  We hope you are able to attend this event and give a warm welcome to Dr. Singal who will be traveling from the desert gaming city of Las Vegas.  (Side note: Dr. Singal trained at WashU).  Diabetes Coalition meetings are a great way to meet colleagues from across the health care system who are involved in diabetes prevention and management.  A special thanks goes out to Merck for their sponsorship of the meeting venue, etc.

Are You a Writer? Editor?

Have you ever wanted to be a writer? an editor?  Is there a journalist in your soul that is trying to get out?  Well, the St. Louis Diabetes Coalition is seeking assistance to manage its online news and information service — Diabetes Collaboratory.  If you are interested (or can talk someone else into being interested), then please contact eric@diabetescoalition.org for more information.