Healthy Georgia Diabetes and Obesity Project

Purpose

A collaboration of public and private sector leaders dedicated to improving the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes and to promoting early diagnosis and prevention of diabetes, including decreasing the prevalence of obesity.

Need

An estimated 18 million Americans have diabetes, including almost 6 million who don’t know it. Another 41 million are pre-diabetic, a condition that will likely progress to diabetes without appropriate preventive treatment. An additional concern is the increase in obesity – a major risk factor in developing diabetes.

Unfortunately people with diabetes only receive appropriate treatment fifty percent of the time. Public awareness about the seriousness of the disease and the importance of its management is low even though it is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S. Unless changes occur, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates 1 of 3 Americans born in 2000 may develop diabetes. The outlook may be even more dismal for minorities who are disproportionately impacted.

Based on data for the year 2002, the economic cost of diabetes was $132 billion: $92 billion in direct medical costs and $40 billion in indirect costs such as lost workdays and restricted activity. The average expense for a person with diabetes was $13,243 or 5.2 times greater than the expense for a person without diabetes.

Diabetes in Georgia

Diabetes is a common, serious and costly disease in Georgia. Approximately 7% of the adult population in Georgia has diagnosed diabetes. For every two patients diagnosed with diabetes, another has not been diagnosed. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing throughout Georgia, including children and adolescents. In 2000, diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death in Georgia, killing approximately 1500 Georgians. Diabetes can contribute to heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and amputations. In Georgia, the cost of diabetes due to medical care, lost productivity and premature death is over $4 billion per year.

Goals

Reduce the incidence of diabetes and obesity as well as the complications and death rate associated with both conditions through consistent implementation of best practices. Reduce disparities in health in racial and ethnic populations disproportionately impacted by diabetes and obesity. Improve public awareness and patient understanding of diabetes and its control. Promote better self-management among those with diabetes and obese individuals. Accelerate the migration from paper to electronic record keeping so that access and accuracy of information will be improved. Improve health care providers' understanding of diabetes and its control and rapid adoption of proven best practices. Promote policies that increase prevention and improve the quality of and access to diabetes care.

Components

Public Awareness and Communications
A statewide communications campaign is in progress to increase public awareness of diabetes and improve knowledge regarding expectations of care. The campaign uses various approaches and is led by the Center for Health Transformation with the involvement of Governor Perdue’s office. It is designed to provide information to accelerate the adoption of solutions, policies and behaviors that increase prevention, detection and optimal treatment. One major part of this campaign is ‘Nique and Newt’s Full-Court Press on Diabetes,’ an initiative designed to increase awareness, detection and prevention of diabetes and its complications, with a special focus on preventing children from developing the disease and its complications.

Quality of Care
A series of initiatives are being developed to improve the quality of care for Georgians with diabetes. A cornerstone of this effort, Bridges to Excellence, is being led by a coalition of Georgia’s largest employers. BTE is a nationally recognized program with proven results. A recent actuarial analysis of the Diabetes Care Link program by Towers Perrin reports an estimated savings of $1,059 per individual if blood pressure, Hemoglobin A1C, and LDL control measures are met. BTE uses established standards of care to reward physicians who consistently implement best practices.

Minority Health Disparities
Minorities are more likely to have diabetes and less likely to receive proper treatment. With the goal of eliminating such disparities, an education, prevention and treatment program is underway with the Morehouse School of Medicine to specifically address diabetes and obesity for this group of Georgians.

Improving the Health of Georgia’s Children
Obesity is a growing problem and a significant risk factor in the development of diabetes. Unfortunately, obesity has become a fact of life for children throughout the nation. An outreach program is underway to address this issue for Georgia’s children through early intervention. By changing the trend in obesity, we hope to prevent or slow the rapid increase in diabetes throughout the state.

Resouces on Diabetes >>