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Use and Implications of A1C Registries in Vermont, NYC and San Antonio, TX
by David Potter, Chief Marketing Officer, Vermedx Diabetes Information System
At the Fall ’08 Statewide Meeting, DCOM attendees were introduced to a new concept in measuring
diabetes care across large communities. The Vermedx® system allows A1C values (and potentially
other laboratory markers) to be downloaded directly from clinical laboratories to its database system.
Using this system, monitoring diabetes care does not depend on knowing a patient’s provider or on
handwritten data transfer. Participants at the meeting quickly recognized that the compelling aspect
of this kind of registry is in accurately knowing the actual laboratory values rather than depending on
office staff, phone calls or patient memories. Currently, many third party payers can only conduct
Quality Assurance/Initiative efforts based on whether testing was done according to charges
submitted. While individual providers can collect the actual values, it has been difficult to collect
values across a geographic range. Another advantage of the Vermedx® system is the quick
turnaround of data in comparison to other surveillance data. Data would be available on a monthly
basis while most other surveillance sources have a lag time of at least a year or two. Vermedx® also
has the added benefit of a quality improvement component to it.
Mr. Potter discussed the A1C registries in Vermont, NYC and San Antonio, TX. Each of these settings
represented different circumstances. New York City has made diabetes a reportable disease and
requires that laboratory values be submitted. San Antonio is conducting a pilot program and Vermont
was the site of a clinical research trial. In certain locations, only A1C data are analyzed whereas other
sites are recording cholesterol profiles and measures of kidney function. Mr. Potter described the
parameters that are taken into account when deciding to implement this program and the differences
between the surveillance aspect and the quality improvement of care for provider group services
component.
According to Mr. Potter, there are two core components:
• A proprietary Registry System driven by laboratory test data that requires no data input from
clinicians or public health staff. The System's reports enable providers, payers, and public health
agency officials to accurately assess the extent of disease and the quality of care for their entire
diabetes population.
• The Vermedx® Treatment Outreach System providing user-friendly clinical decision support and
treatment optimization tools for providers and patients. These tools promote focus of care on the
highest risk patients and enhance timely patient compliance with best practices.
There was a high level of interest among the attendees, and a hearty dialogue ensued exploring
questions such as how Vermedx® handles HIPAA compliance since the data is received from
laboratories, how data are verified for accuracy, and how patients are tracked over time if they
change residences or live in the area only transiently. Mr. Potter stated that the results from the
clinical trial demonstrated increased compliance with A1C testing and a decrease in emergency room
visits, surgical procedures and overall costs. Additional discussion speculated how the Vermedex®
service could lead to decreased costs.
Following the meeting, DCOM representatives expressed an interest in exploring this further for
Massachusetts.
Resources:
The Vermedx home page
Vermedx® White Paper
San Antonio to Track Diabetes for Study
back to home page
by David Potter, Chief Marketing Officer, Vermedx Diabetes Information System
At the Fall ’08 Statewide Meeting, DCOM attendees were introduced to a new concept in measuring
diabetes care across large communities. The Vermedx® system allows A1C values (and potentially
other laboratory markers) to be downloaded directly from clinical laboratories to its database system.
Using this system, monitoring diabetes care does not depend on knowing a patient’s provider or on
handwritten data transfer. Participants at the meeting quickly recognized that the compelling aspect
of this kind of registry is in accurately knowing the actual laboratory values rather than depending on
office staff, phone calls or patient memories. Currently, many third party payers can only conduct
Quality Assurance/Initiative efforts based on whether testing was done according to charges
submitted. While individual providers can collect the actual values, it has been difficult to collect
values across a geographic range. Another advantage of the Vermedx® system is the quick
turnaround of data in comparison to other surveillance data. Data would be available on a monthly
basis while most other surveillance sources have a lag time of at least a year or two. Vermedx® also
has the added benefit of a quality improvement component to it.
Mr. Potter discussed the A1C registries in Vermont, NYC and San Antonio, TX. Each of these settings
represented different circumstances. New York City has made diabetes a reportable disease and
requires that laboratory values be submitted. San Antonio is conducting a pilot program and Vermont
was the site of a clinical research trial. In certain locations, only A1C data are analyzed whereas other
sites are recording cholesterol profiles and measures of kidney function. Mr. Potter described the
parameters that are taken into account when deciding to implement this program and the differences
between the surveillance aspect and the quality improvement of care for provider group services
component.
According to Mr. Potter, there are two core components:
• A proprietary Registry System driven by laboratory test data that requires no data input from
clinicians or public health staff. The System's reports enable providers, payers, and public health
agency officials to accurately assess the extent of disease and the quality of care for their entire
diabetes population.
• The Vermedx® Treatment Outreach System providing user-friendly clinical decision support and
treatment optimization tools for providers and patients. These tools promote focus of care on the
highest risk patients and enhance timely patient compliance with best practices.
There was a high level of interest among the attendees, and a hearty dialogue ensued exploring
questions such as how Vermedx® handles HIPAA compliance since the data is received from
laboratories, how data are verified for accuracy, and how patients are tracked over time if they
change residences or live in the area only transiently. Mr. Potter stated that the results from the
clinical trial demonstrated increased compliance with A1C testing and a decrease in emergency room
visits, surgical procedures and overall costs. Additional discussion speculated how the Vermedex®
service could lead to decreased costs.
Following the meeting, DCOM representatives expressed an interest in exploring this further for
Massachusetts.
Resources:
The Vermedx home page
Vermedx® White Paper
San Antonio to Track Diabetes for Study
back to home page
| Fall Statewide Meeting - October 31, 2008 |
|
