Improving Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) Referrals in the Primary Care Setting

Author Names and Emails

Stephanie Elaine SossongFollow

Authors' Affiliations

Stephanie Sossong, College of Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Location

Culp Ballroom

Start Date

4-7-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

4-7-2022 12:00 PM

Poster Number

54

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Nursing

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Jean Hemphill

Classification of First Author

Graduate Student-Doctoral

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Patient Care and Education

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Title: Improving Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) Referrals in the Primary Care Setting

Authors: Stephanie Sossong and Dr. Jean Hemphill, College of Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement a standardized referral process to DSMES in primary care. DSMES decreases complications from T2DM and reduces healthcare costs. However, patients diagnosed with T2DM are referred <7% of the time.

Aim: To assure that patients diagnosed with T2DM receive referrals to an accredited DSMES program.

Processes: Baseline data of the number of patients with T2DM referred to DSMES was collected from a primary care clinic for 4 weeks. An educational in-service highlighting the benefits of DSMES, guidelines for referrals, and the process improvement was presented to providers and medical assistants. Data regarding referrals to DSMES after the process implementation will be collected for 4 weeks, numbers will be compared to pre-implementation data and reported using percent frequency. The IRB determined that the activities of this project are not defined as research involving human subjects.

Results: The results of this project have not been determined yet, however; the expected outcome is an increased number of referrals to DSMES.

Limitations: The limitations of this project include a small sample size and a short length of study.

Conclusions: Implementing a standardized referral process in primary care increases referral rates to DSMES. This is important because DSMES has been proven to reduce diabetes related complications, healthcare spending, and prevalence of other comorbidities.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 7th, 9:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 PM

Improving Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) Referrals in the Primary Care Setting

Culp Ballroom

Title: Improving Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) Referrals in the Primary Care Setting

Authors: Stephanie Sossong and Dr. Jean Hemphill, College of Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement a standardized referral process to DSMES in primary care. DSMES decreases complications from T2DM and reduces healthcare costs. However, patients diagnosed with T2DM are referred <7% of the time.

Aim: To assure that patients diagnosed with T2DM receive referrals to an accredited DSMES program.

Processes: Baseline data of the number of patients with T2DM referred to DSMES was collected from a primary care clinic for 4 weeks. An educational in-service highlighting the benefits of DSMES, guidelines for referrals, and the process improvement was presented to providers and medical assistants. Data regarding referrals to DSMES after the process implementation will be collected for 4 weeks, numbers will be compared to pre-implementation data and reported using percent frequency. The IRB determined that the activities of this project are not defined as research involving human subjects.

Results: The results of this project have not been determined yet, however; the expected outcome is an increased number of referrals to DSMES.

Limitations: The limitations of this project include a small sample size and a short length of study.

Conclusions: Implementing a standardized referral process in primary care increases referral rates to DSMES. This is important because DSMES has been proven to reduce diabetes related complications, healthcare spending, and prevalence of other comorbidities.