Team Approach Delivers Motivational Diabetes Management
posted 02/09/04
The new diabetes management program, is designed to place patients at the center of their own care through a group-support concept and the hospital’s healthcare team.

Naval Hospital Pensacola healthcare professionals are teaming up with their diabetes patients under a new patient-centered management program that intertwines group support and personal motivation.

"It’s encouraging to see the gradual shift from the acute care disease reliant on the physician to the chronic disease approach of active patient involvement, along with coaching from the rest of us," said Capt. Tom Kersch, a family practitioner,

The Diabetes Group is an efficient and cost-effective program that provides the hospital with an opportunity to address the patients’ medical, psychosocial and educational needs in a one-stop-shopping concept, said Barbara Nelson, a certified diabetes nurse educator.

The setup, following a special guest lecturer, includes individual stations of care, including nutrition, pharmacy, foot care, eye specialists, case managers and primary care physicians. After a review of lab reports, vitals and blood sugars, patients go to each station individually for a one-on-one review of their diabetes management.

It improves efficiency for standards of care follow-up requirements, says Nelson, and opens additional appointments for doctors.

It’s considered a lifestyle modification, and it’s done in one visit, which helps re-enforce things, said Kersch. It used to take patients several appointment visits to see several specialists.

One of the patients, retired Navy Capt. Donald Krehely, summarized the positive climate. "If all of these people care about my diabetes, its going to make me care more, as well."

Source: Diabetes In Control.com.

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