‘We must live our brand’: Diabetes care and education specialist role in challenging times
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it countless challenges and changes in health care delivery; diabetes care and education specialists must adapt to achieve successful health outcomes, according to a speaker.
“If there is one thing this past year has shown, it is the ability of the specialty and the association to demonstrate resiliency and to successfully navigate the unexpected,” Kellie Rodriguez, RN, MSN, MBA, CDCES, director of the Global Diabetes Program at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, Texas, and 2021 president of the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists, said during the virtual ADCES21 President’s Address. “As a rich, interprofessional specialty, we have shown our capacity to pivot and succeed.”
It has been nearly 2 years since ADCES officially unveiled a rebranding effort, including an association name change, that was to drive recognition of the value diabetes care and education specialists bring to address the increasing prevalence of diabetes and meet new demands for population-level diabetes performance measures. Yet most members could not have envisioned the changes that would follow in 2020, as a global pandemic upended traditional care delivery models, forcing diabetes care and education specialists to completely rethink how they interact with patients and providers, Rodriguez said.
The ADCES21 conference will address some of those changes and reflect “the richness and diversity of the work that we do,” Rodriguez said.
“This [name change] sets a strong professional statement, but for this unique professional transition to have the intended impact, we must live our brand as diabetes care and education specialists,” Rodriguez said. “That time is now.”
Rodriguez said diabetes care and education specialists must understand action steps across the six vision elements of Project Vision — an initiative created to position the specialty for success within a changing health care environment. She focused on three core vision areas:
- Leveraging technology: Diabetes care and education specialists should be technology experts and data interpreters, trainers and consultants driving care. “Technology is personal for people living with diabetes, and that is what we do,” Rodriguez said.
- Integrated diabetes care: Diabetes care and education specialists can ensure their place at the center of the diabetes care team through care integration that can bridge, connect and coordinate care and demonstrate expertise. “I hear the appreciation of our primary care providers who need clinical expertise and support with all the advances in pharmacologic and device options in diabetes and cardiometabolic care,” Rodriguez said. “We can connect care and break down silos across inpatient, specialty services, primary care clinics and the community.”
- The quadruple aim: The quadruple aim components of quality care, positive patient and care team experience, and reduced cost of care, are “the heart of our practice,” Rodriguez said, and are influenced by many of the expanding roles of the diabetes care and education specialist.
“Our professional survival must also include equal discussion of how what we do leads to important outcomes, both person-centered and organizational,” Rodriguez said. “We can support this through our interprofessional composition, individualized assessment that includes clinical and social determinants of health factors, care prioritization skills, workforce training and applying it all beyond individuals to populations.
“I truly believe in the value that every one of us brings to making a difference,” Rodriguez said. “Identify one or two action items you can plan to implement in your work environment. No ‘safe’ action items, but ones where you need to nudge. We have the ability to create important change. ... I believe in your ability.”
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Rodriguez K. President’s Address. Presented at: ADCES21; Aug. 12-15, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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