COLUMBUS, Ga., April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Health Transformation (CHT) is proud to announce that the Center's Healthy Georgia Diabetes and Obesity Project has helped to lead to an increase in the number of physicians recognized for providing the best standards of care for people with diabetes.
The Diabetes Physician Recognition Program (DPRP), a national program developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), was created in order to honor physicians and physician groups who provide high-quality diabetes care. Specifically, the program recognizes physicians who demonstrate that they provide excellent diabetes care and provides critical information to purchasers and consumers of healthcare and support quality improvement efforts by healthcare providers.
CHT celebrates the collaborative efforts of all who have helped achieve a critical milestone in our work to promote values-based care: the number of DPRP physicians in Georgia has increased from 5 to 101.
Elizabeth Martin, MD, the 100th physician in Georgia to receive the DPRP distinction, was recognized at a Columbus Rotary Club luncheon this week during which CHT Founder Newt Gingrich highlighted the progress of the Healthy Columbus Project he first proposed in September of 2006. At the time, Gingrich, along with Columbus endocrinologist Dr. Stephen Leichter, called on the Columbus community to build a model that could be replicated throughout America, beginning with a focus on diabetes and obesity.
Educating area physicians based on national guidelines for diabetes care from the NCQA is an important element of the Center for Health Transformation's Columbus Project, part of the Center's larger Georgia Project, which serves as a state model for building a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that saves lives and saves money.
"This is an example of how a collaboration of leaders working together can begin to transform a community and, through their example, a state and an entire nation," said Laura Linn, Director of the Georgia Project. "CHT is proud to act as a driving force in accelerating the number of DPRP-recognized physicians in Georgia. Early detection, proper self-management, and adherence to the best standards of care are all essential steps to reducing the physical and financial toll of diabetes and other chronic diseases."
This week, CHT announced a new element of the project, a three-year program (a collaboration of Pfizer, the Columbus Research Foundation, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and CHT) which will focus on altering the metabolic status of Columbus' working-age population that either has Metabolic Syndrome, suffers from related conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol, or is at risk to develop these conditions. Worksite educational programs will be carried out in association with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and major private employers in the area, including divisions of major area corporations, employees of the Columbus city government, and healthcare workers. Additional highlights of the program include plans for a project to screen 100 percent of all eligible Medicare recipients in Columbus for diabetes and also to implement a uniform system of insulin delivery at Columbus hospitals.
More about the NCQA's DPRP Programs:
The National Committee for Quality Assurance developed the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program in partnership with the ADA in 1997. Three founding supporters of the popular Physician Recognition programs include GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer Inc.
To earn diabetes recognition, a physician or physician groups must collect and submit data related to the treatment of people with diabetes, such as the percentage of patients whose cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels are under control. Those that meet or exceed national performance thresholds are recognized on a dedicated Web page and added to a referral list, to which NCQA and ADA direct interested consumers. More than 2,600 physicians have been recognized to date.
Center for Health Transformation
