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| Fall Statewide Meeting - October 31, 2008 |
Highlights from "Diabetes Prevention and Control - A Comprehensive Process"
by Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach
In December 2007, Governor Patrick announced a decision to dramatically alter the Commonwealth’s
approach to preventing and controlling chronic diseases. HealthyMass is a cross-agency initiative to
build on health care reform. This coordinated approach to health involved representatives of nine
diverse state entities, including purchasers, providers, regulators, insurers, public health, and health
care financing, signing the HealthyMass Compact, an agreement demonstrating their commitment to
aligning policies and practices to improve health care quality and decrease costs. Five initial task
forces charged with developing goals and recommendations in a short time frame. The Governor’s
most senior team have committed to coordinating efforts and working on this issue. The goals include:
1. Ensuring access to care
2. Advancing health care quality
3. Containing health care costs
4. Promoting individual wellness
5. Promoting healthy communities
A task force dedicated to the prevention and control of diabetes has begun meeting with a 14-month
term commitment. With representation from government agencies, insurers, providers, and
organizations focused on diabetes, the meetings are professionally facilitated and move quickly. The
objective is to develop an action-oriented framework for preventing and managing chronic disease—
starting with a focus on diabetes—in order to optimize health, improve the quality of care, and control
costs.
Examples of early action steps include a comprehensive data report, examining the prevalence of
diabetes as well as service utilization, appropriateness of care and costs. Additionally, outcomes were
identified that can be tracked with existing data sources so that short-term changes can be monitored.
Current Statistics about Diabetes:
• Prevalence in Massachusetts has increased 50% over the past decade.
• There is a three-fold increase in the prevalence of diabetes among those with household incomes
of under $25,000 versus those with higher household incomes.
• People with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to be among the least educated.
• Blacks and Hispanics are more than twice as likely to have diabetes as those of other races
or ethnicities.
• Contributing factors for developing diabetes include obesity. Risk factors for complications of
diabetes include high body mass index, high cholesterol and smoking.
• There is room for improvement in preventative care, with Massachusetts leading the U.S. average
in percentage of patients receiving recommended care.
Already, Massachusetts’ Health Care Reform has helped many people with pre-diabetes and diabetes
overcome a major obstacle to access to care. Hundreds of thousands more are receiving insurance for
the first time. The stage is set to do a better job in preventing and controlling diabetes in
Massachusetts.
back to home page
by Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach
In December 2007, Governor Patrick announced a decision to dramatically alter the Commonwealth’s
approach to preventing and controlling chronic diseases. HealthyMass is a cross-agency initiative to
build on health care reform. This coordinated approach to health involved representatives of nine
diverse state entities, including purchasers, providers, regulators, insurers, public health, and health
care financing, signing the HealthyMass Compact, an agreement demonstrating their commitment to
aligning policies and practices to improve health care quality and decrease costs. Five initial task
forces charged with developing goals and recommendations in a short time frame. The Governor’s
most senior team have committed to coordinating efforts and working on this issue. The goals include:
1. Ensuring access to care
2. Advancing health care quality
3. Containing health care costs
4. Promoting individual wellness
5. Promoting healthy communities
A task force dedicated to the prevention and control of diabetes has begun meeting with a 14-month
term commitment. With representation from government agencies, insurers, providers, and
organizations focused on diabetes, the meetings are professionally facilitated and move quickly. The
objective is to develop an action-oriented framework for preventing and managing chronic disease—
starting with a focus on diabetes—in order to optimize health, improve the quality of care, and control
costs.
Examples of early action steps include a comprehensive data report, examining the prevalence of
diabetes as well as service utilization, appropriateness of care and costs. Additionally, outcomes were
identified that can be tracked with existing data sources so that short-term changes can be monitored.
Current Statistics about Diabetes:
• Prevalence in Massachusetts has increased 50% over the past decade.
• There is a three-fold increase in the prevalence of diabetes among those with household incomes
of under $25,000 versus those with higher household incomes.
• People with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to be among the least educated.
• Blacks and Hispanics are more than twice as likely to have diabetes as those of other races
or ethnicities.
• Contributing factors for developing diabetes include obesity. Risk factors for complications of
diabetes include high body mass index, high cholesterol and smoking.
• There is room for improvement in preventative care, with Massachusetts leading the U.S. average
in percentage of patients receiving recommended care.
Already, Massachusetts’ Health Care Reform has helped many people with pre-diabetes and diabetes
overcome a major obstacle to access to care. Hundreds of thousands more are receiving insurance for
the first time. The stage is set to do a better job in preventing and controlling diabetes in
Massachusetts.
back to home page
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