HealthPartners unveils Diabetes Wizard

By Mike Miliard
12:29 PM

MINNEAPOLIS – Diabetes is anything but “one-size-fits-all” disease. So HealthPartners researchers and physicians have developed a new tool called Diabetes Wizard, which uses uses EHRs to customize individual care.
 
Helping physicians tutor their patients on the best medications and lifestyle improvements that will lower their particular chances of complications, the tool tailors treatment plans based on the best medical evidence, including medications recommended for better blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol control.
 
Using Diabetes Wizard, physician and patient can see whether the patient’s current blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure test results are not at goal, and then provide a list of medications and treatments to consider. The tool provides benefits and risks of the medications, recommended doses and clinic visit intervals. It also suggests whether seeing a diabetes educator or pharmacist might be helpful to provide additional support for nutrition, medication counseling or self-management.
 
Developed by the HealthPartners Research Foundation in collaboration with the HealthPartners Medical Group, Diabetes Wizard was studied from October 2006 to May 2007. Eleven clinics, 40 primary care physicians and more than 2,500 patients with type 2 diabetes were part of that study. The results, published in the Annals of Family Medicine found patients to have improved blood sugar and blood pressure control.
Unlike previously available in "prompts" in EHRs, the Wizard takes much more patient detail into account, including data on patient age, current medications, smoking status, kidney function, history of heart disease or congestive heart failure. It can also identify gaps in care.
 
"The Diabetes Wizard is really designed to help solve a problem for patients with diabetes," said JoAnn Sperl-Hillen, MD, senior research investigator with HealthPartners Research Foundation. "The treatment of diabetes is complex for patients and physicians because treatment involves a combination of lifestyle behaviors and many possible medications. The best approach to caring for diabetes is customized and personalized."
 
While many patients with other diseases may receive care from specialists, nearly all diabetes patients with diabetes are treated by primary care physicians, who treat patients for a wide spectrum of conditions each day. Diabetes Wizard offers support specifically tailored to primary care docs.
 
"Because much diabetes care is provided in primary care settings, electronic medical records truly have the potential to meaningfully improve the health of patients with diabetes," said Patrick O’Connor, MD, MPH, assistant medical director and senior clinical research investigator, HealthPartners Research Foundation. "The electronic medical record can present personalized patient information in a single screen to the physician and patient in an instant. This allows physicians and patients to have complete information at the office visit when they are making choices about their care."
 
"HealthPartners is already one of the national leaders in the quality of diabetes care," said Beth Averbeck, MD, associate medical director for primary care of HealthPartners Medical Group. "This will give us another new way for physicians to partner with our patients to continue to improve outcomes.”
 
She added that “an estimated one-third of Medicare costs come from diabetes or diabetes-related complications, including heart disease and stroke, so there’s no question that new tools are needed to better manage the disease.”
 
HealthPartners clinics will expand the use of the Diabetes Wizard in all HealthPartners clinics this summer. Beginning in the fall it will study an expanded use of Wizard in primary care clinics to assess cardiovascular risk, under a grant from the National Institutes of Health. These tools can ultimately be made available to other health care organizations.
Want to get more stories like this one? Get daily news updates from Healthcare IT News.
Your subscription has been saved.
Something went wrong. Please try again.