title: Diabetes program focuses on the basics.
abstract: Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC, is saving about $425,000 a year by implementing a multidisciplinary model that teaches patients with diabetes the basic skills they need to stay safe after discharge. A multidisciplinary team that included pharmacy, nutrition, nursing, and case management developed the program after data showed that the hospital's traditional diabetes program was reaching only about 20% of the diabetes population. The team determined that patients need four survival skills to stay healthy at home: medications, glucose monitoring, hypoglycemia recognition, and having a relationship with a primary care provider in the community. The team developed a graphic that illustrates what the medical provider, the bedside nurse, the pharmacist, the case manager or social worker, and the nutritionist need to do for all patients with diabetes. Each member of the team also reinforces the four survival skills.
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012648:Self Care