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Arkansas
In an effort to combat the growing prevalence of diabetes in Arkansas, Comprehensive Neuroscience is working with the State of Arkansas on its Diabetes Disease Management Program, which is funded by Lilly. The program educates Medicaid patients through its diabetes education centers throughout the state. Among other support and clinical services, the centers educated participants on the diabetes disease process and blood glucose monitoring; how to self-examine feet; and promoted the importance of exercise and healthy eating.
Lilly provided financial support for the program while operation and implementation were conducted solely by a vendor contracted by the state.
Initial data from the program was presented to the American Diabetes Association Scientific Session in 2005, shortly after the program began. These initial results indicated¹:
- Over one year, mean HbA1c² levels declined by 0.45 among the 157 program participants (75 percent) who completed their final visit.
- The rate of hospital admissions was 34 percent lower and the rate of emergency department visits was 38 percent lower among program participants compared to non-participants.
- An estimated savings in diabetes-related cost over 3 years was $415 per program completer. Over 10 years, completers were estimated to experience 12 percent fewer coronary heart disease events and 15 percent fewer microvascular disease events using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study risk models.
The study³ completed by the State of Arkansas showed that the overall level of blood glucose successfully declined among participants in the program. Low blood glucose levels significantly reduce the risk for diabetes-related complications, which in turn saves money in diabetes-related Medicaid costs.
¹ Diabetes Self-management Education Program for Medicaid Recipients: A Continuous Quality Improvement Process, Appathurai Balamurugan, Robert Ohsfeldt, Tom Hughes, Martha Phillips, The Diabetes Educator 2006: 32; 893
² Hemoglobin A1c is a measure of the average blood sugar level during the past six to eight weeks — a standard clinical criteria for monitoring changes in patients with diabetes.
³ This study was completed without Lilly’s influence on the results. All data used in the study is on file with the State of Arkansas.
