Different Ways to Provide Better Health Care for Diabetic Patients
Health care providers play a crucial role in helping their patients prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and manage all types of diabetes. The following information can support your efforts to screen, test, and refer people to type 2 diabetes prevention and diabetes management programs and services.
Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes
About 1 in 3 American adults have prediabetes, placing them at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. More than 8 in 10 of them don’t know they have prediabetes. Health care providers are often the first line in screening and referring patients to a type 2 diabetes prevention program. You can refer your patients with prediabetes to the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP), a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program that is proven by research to cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by more than half. This yearlong program, delivered by a trained lifestyle coach, will teach your patients how to eat healthy, increase physical activity, manage stress, and stay motivated. They can also lower their risk of a heart attack or stroke and improve their overall health.
Learn more about how health care providers and pharmacists can refer their patients to the National DPP lifestyle change program. Already implementing a program? Find resources and support on the National DPP Customer Service Center, https://nationaldppcsc.cdc.gov/s/.
Diabetes Management
Diabetes Standards of Care
Health care providers can stay up-to-date on the latest Standards of Diabetes Care to ensure their patients are receiving timely, equitable, and high-quality care. These guidelines include screenings and management for diabetes and related comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/professional-info/health-care-providers.html