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Blog: A diabetes educator's take on day 1 of the AADE annual meeting
PHILADELPHIA — The first day of the American Association of Diabetes Educators Annual Meeting and Exhibition offered interesting presentations on a number of important topics, ranging from patient experiences of living with diabetes to strategies for optimizing clinical practice. Linda E. Sartor, RD, MA, CDE, LDN, RYT, details what she took away from a few of today’s sessions in this blog post.
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Wednesday, Aug. 8, 8:00 a.m.
"Diabetes will never hold you back, but mismanagement of it will," Phil Southerland, who was today’s keynote speaker, said during this morning’s general session.
Linda E. Sartor
Phil developed type 1 diabetes at age 7 months. Doctors told his mother he would never live past 25 years of age. Now 30 years old, married and CEO of Team Novo Nordisk, a professional cycling team comprised of people all living with diabetes, he is the role model for persons living with diabetes everywhere.
After winning the Race Across America in 2007, the team's goal is to compete in the Tour de France in 2021, the anniversary of the discovery of insulin. Phil and Team Novo Nordisk are the ultimate example of what is possible despite living with diabetes.
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9:45 a.m.
New ideas about how to improve patient care are always emerging. One particularly interesting concept is shared medical appointments. The question is are you ready for them in your clinic?
Less than one-half of all persons with diabetes are meeting their goals for HbA1c, blood pressure and lipids. When it comes to seeing all of these patients, what’s a busy endocrinology clinic to do? Shared medical appointments, consisting of 60- to 90-minute visits with six to eight patients, with an MD or NP and a diabetes educator, will fill the void.
Most centers have an MA vital all patients and then have them meet individually with their providers to review current labs and medications. Then, the group visit, facilitated by the CDE, begins. Research supports better clinical outcomes, improved provider/patient relationships and patient empowerment. These visits are billed under a medical office visit using 90212 or 99011.
Increased revenue, less wait time, improved outcomes and patient satisfaction are among the rewards of implementing shared medical visits. What are you waiting for?