Everyone with Diabetes Counts

Diabetes is a serious public health concern in the United States. Among U.S. residents 29.1 million people have diabetes and 86 million have pre-diabetes . Direct medical costs are $176 billion, which includes costs for hospital and emergency care, office visits, and medications . Qualis Health launched a local initiative of the national “Everyone with Diabetes Counts” (EDC) program to improve care for people with diabetes in Idaho and Washington.

Why improving diabetes care is important:

• Diabetes is the most common cause of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations in U.S. adults.
• Diabetes is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke.
• Risk of death for adults with diabetes is 50% higher than for adults without diabetes.
• Healthcare disparities exist among racial and ethnic minorities for patients with diabetes.

As part of the local EDC initiative, Qualis Health is working with providers, partners/stakeholders and people with diabetes.
 

People with Diabetes
 

Find a Diabetes Self-Management Progam (DSMP) Workshop near you in Idaho or Washington!

We are working with local stakeholders to provide Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) classes to people with diabetes, particularly underserved populations. If you struggle with managing your diabetes, here is a workshop that can help! The Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) workshops are free and open to individuals living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. The DSMP program was developed by Stanford University and consists of six workshop sessions of 2.5 hours each.  Each workshop focuses on problem-solving, decision-making, and other self-management skills which help participants face the challenges of living with diabetes Participants are encouraged to attend with a spouse, companion or caregiver.  Registration is required. 

Participants who take the workshops learn about:

• Monitoring blood sugar
• Preventing low blood sugar
• Nutrition and healthy eating plan
• Preventing and delaying complications
• Dealing with depression and stress
• Foot care

Providers

We are working with providers in Idaho and Washington on improving diabetes care by:

• Expanding access and increasing referrals to Stanford’s suite of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Programs, with emphasis on the Diabetes Self-Management module
• Providing technical assistance for implementing Stanford’s Diabetes Self-Management program in health systems and ambulatory clinics
• Using technology and optimizing workflows to improve health outcomes
• Helping providers understand how improvement in diabetes care can contribute to higher reimbursement in emerging value-based payment models

Learn more about our work with providers.
 

Stakeholders/Partners

We are working with stakeholders and partners to align our diabetes care quality improvement efforts to provide better diabetes care in Idaho and Washington.

For more information on diabetes, please visit:
Everyone with Diabetes Counts web page to learn about the national program and past successes.
The Washington State Department of Health diabetes web page to learn more diabetes prevention and management.
The American Diabetes Association for information and resources on diabetes management.

We invite people with diabetes, providers and stakeholders to join the local Everyone with Diabetes Counts initiative. Please join us in improving the health and quality of life for patients with diabetes.

Contacts:

Idaho
Jeff Smith, MPA
Quality Improvement Consultant
Send an email
208-383-5945

Washington
Jamie Hunter-Mitchell
Quality Improvement Consultant
Send an email
206-288-2351