Health Literacy Quality Improvement Project

A large body of literature has investigated the relationship between health literacy and diabetic self- management and diabetic outcomes. Health literacy is a set of skills needed to make informed health decisions and effectively navigate the healthcare system. Barriers and low health literacy have been linked to over $200 billion in additional medical costs annually and poorer diabetic patient outcomes. Routine screening of health literacy has not been shown to improve diabetic outcomes and is not recommended. Instead, multiple professional medical organizations have endorsed using universal health literacy precautions to provide clear and comprehensible information for all patients. This paper examines the relationship between using the universal health literacy precautions toolkit, specifically the teach-back method among a cohort of diabetic Medicare patients, to remove health literacy barriers and improve A1C screening testing compliance for these patients