Managed Care - August 2008 - (Page 45) data and glycemic management. An initial time investment on the part of the clinical management team to learn about the systems, careful patient selection and proper patient/caregiver education will contribute to a high degree of patient compliance, and long-term glycemic control through continuity of use. A novel mechanism for providing patients with additional cost-effective services is seeing patients in groups in addition to individual office visits. One study found that patients seen in groups of 10 to 20 by a physician and two nurse specialists provided more contact time while reducing the frequency of individual office visits (Terry 1997). CGM training and follow-up may be particularly well suited for group programs as patients can discuss success strategies with other CGM patients and health care professionals. tions extend beyond short-term improvements in glycemic control to the potential for meaningful improvement in long-term outcomes, improved NCQA accreditation ratings, and decreased cost of care by reducing the number of clinically significant and costly hypoglycemic and/or hyperglycemic episodes. Managed care must balance the new benefits that CGMs provide in the management of diabetes with the need to provide quality care that is cost effective. Acknowledgements The study was sponsored by Abbott Diabetes Care, Abbott Park, Ill. The authors wish to thank Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, and David M. Kendall, MD, International Diabetes Center at Park Nicollet, Minneapolis; Richard L. Weinstein, MD, Diablo Clinical Research Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif.; Sherwyn L. Schwartz, MD, Diabetes & Glandular Disease Clinic, San Antonio; Robert M. Bernstein, MD, FACE, Regional Endocrinology Associates, Santa Fe; and; Samer El Deiry, the Endocrine Group, Albany, N.Y. TAKE AWAY POINTS The FreeStyle Navigator has been proven to provide accurate interstitial fluid glucose data on a continuous basis. This enables the patient or health care provider to respond to changes in glycemic status more frequently than with random sampling provided by SMBG. The FreeStyle Navigator Continuous Glucose Monitoring System is easily managed by and appropriately designed for use by adults with diabetes who require insulin. It is differentiated by its functionality including frequency of measurements and unique alert system. From a clinical perspective, it meets the conditions of a viable CGM technology as it is accurate, easy to use, and well tolerated. 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AUGUST 2008 / MANAGED CARE 45 http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp http://public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/GetPressRelease.aspx?id=2551 http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp http://public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/GetPressRelease.aspx?id=2551 http://public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/GetPressRelease.aspx?id=2551 http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/441/Default.aspx http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/441/Default.aspx
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