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Diabetes Quality Improvement in an Employer-Sponsored Health Plan

Building upon the success of the NCQA Diabetes Physician Recognition program, Health Partners is actively involved in a diabetic quality improvement program with an employer-sponsored health plan.  The program's goal is to improve diabetic patient outcomes,  decrease work absenteeism from diabetic-related illnesses, and decrease the costs of diabetic care by controlling the disease and reducing complications. 

Of the 12,000 members in the partnering employer-sponsored health plan, there are over 740 diabetic members, or 6.2% of the membership.  On average, the diabetic members have annual healthcare expenditures of $9,151, compared to $5,007 for a non-diabetic member.  Over $6.7 million was spent on healthcare services for diabetic members in the last year. 

NCQA-recognized physicians who meet the standards of the NCQA diabetes program and who fully control diabetes in their patients save an estimated $1,059 in healthcare expenses per diabetic patient per year.  If this is applied to the employer-sponsored health plan, the plan can expect to save over $783,660 if all patients received the recommended evidence-based diabetic care.

Please see our Diabetes Quality Improvement in an employer-sponsored Health Plan Report for more information on the program's metrics.  Results on this program will end on June 30, 2010 and will be shared in the 2010 Commitment to Quality Report.