Study demonstrates care managers in PCMHs increase improvements in diabetes patients

The study, conducted in southeastern Pennsylvania, compared different models of care management and how they impacted diabetes outcomes in three practices with 25 primary-care PCMHs. The identity of the care managers varied among the sites: with some positions filled by nurses or nurse practitioners, while others used social workers or medical assistants.

Each center was evaluated on how well patients fared in the ABCs of diabetes: A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol level. Mean baseline data was determined for each site for the percentage of patients achieving A1C levels less than seven percent, blood pressure less than 130mg Hg and low-density lipoprotein levels less than 100mg/dl.

"The practices that demonstrated the greatest diabetes improvement described more patient-centered care manager duties, better use of the electronic medical record (EMR) for messaging and patient tracking, and stronger integration of the care manager into the care team," said Dr. Gabbay. "Practitioners and patients both preferred embedded nurse care managers that were typically a nurse in order to focus wholly on the patient and their medial needs critical for the the highest risk patients."