Objective: This article describes the evaluation of a new model of partnership care using an audit cycle.
Results: Statistically significant improvements in foot examination, body mass index, urine albumin creatinine ratio, total cholesterol, triglycerides and visual acuity measurements were observed. Significant increases in the proportion of patients achieving cholesterol and triglycerides therapeutic targets occurred. Most other outcome indicators demonstrated a nonsignificant improvement, which may be due to the short time interval in the audit for potential change.
Conclusion: A dedicated chronic disease team and a clinical information system to coordinate culturally appropriate, multidisciplinary chronic disease care enables effective management of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes

Harch, Susan

Reeve, Carole

Reeve, David

English

Scholarship@Western

Western UniversityScholarship@WesternAboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)1-2012Management of type 2 diabetesSusan HarchDavid ReeveCarole ReeveFollow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprciPart of the Community-Based Research Commons, and the Community Health and PreventiveMedicine CommonsCitation of this paper:Harch, Susan; Reeve, David; and Reeve, Carole, "Management of type 2 diabetes" (2012). Aboriginal Policy Research ConsortiumInternational (APRCi). 237.https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprci/237professionalRepRinted fRom AustRAliAn fAmily physiciAn Vol. 41, no. 1/2, jAnuARy/febRuARy 2012  73Management of type 2 diabetes A community partnership approachhospital (fitzroy Valley health service or fVhs) and the Kimberley population health unit (Kphu) are both funded by the state health service and provide services in fitzroy crossing and outreach clinics in the larger surrounding communities. ‘healthy for life’ is a commonwealth program aimed at improving the health of Aboriginal and torres strait islander people. it funds dedicated positions in fitzroy crossing through Kphu. nindilingarri cultural health services (nchs) is a commonwealth funded Aboriginal medical service; it provides nonclinical health services for the fitzroy Valley. The modelover the past 4 years – as part of a formal partnership agreement – fVhs, Kphu and nchs have moved toward an integrated primary healthcare model.6this new model of care is based on Wagner’s chronic disease care model.7 the fundamental environmental enabler has been the community components of policy change and availability of dedicated resources. the healthy for life program created employment for a coordinator, a diabetes educator and Aboriginal project officers. the partnership enabled the re-organisation of healthcare delivery using the clinical information system communicare (communicare systems pty ltd 1998–2010), which facilitated proactive screening, recall for follow up, decision support and self management.this holistic approach is fundamental for successful prevention and management of chronic diseases.8–9The interventionbetween march and september 2010, the Kphu resident medical officer (Rmo) spent 3 days a week in the fitzroy Valley working with the hospital, the nchs health promotion team, Kphu community health and the healthy for life staff. The impact of type 2 diabetes is severe in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Compared with non-Indigenous Australians, type 2 diabetes in Indigenous Australians is four times more prevalent, associated with an earlier age of onset and 12–17 times more deaths.1–4 The Department of Health and Ageing estimate 80% of the total burden of disease in Australia is due to chronic diseases when measured in disability adjusted life years.1the fitzroy Valley is a remote region of the Kimberley in Western Australia. more than 80% of the population are indigenous Australian with 86% aged less than 50 years.5 the fitzroy crossing BackgroundThe impact of type 2 diabetes is severe in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Fitzroy Valley, a remote region of the Kimberley in Western Australia, has a high population of Indigenous Australians. An effective community partnership has been formed between the local hospital, the population health service and local health services.ObjectiveThis article describes the evaluation of a new model of partnership care using an audit cycle.  ResultsStatistically significant improvements in foot examination, body mass index, urine albumin creatinine ratio, total cholesterol, triglycerides and visual acuity measurements were observed. Significant increases in the proportion of patients achieving cholesterol and triglycerides therapeutic targets occurred. Most other outcome indicators demonstrated a nonsignificant improvement, which may be due to the short time interval in the audit for potential change. ConclusionA dedicated chronic disease team and a clinical information system to coordinate culturally appropriate, multidisciplinary chronic disease care enables effective management of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Keywordsdiabetes mellitus/type 2; indigenous health service; quality improvementSusan HarchDavid ReeveCarole ReeveManagement of type 2 diabetes – a  community partnership approachprofessional74  RepRinted fRom AustRAliAn fAmily physiciAn Vol. 41, no. 1/2, jAnuARy/febRuARy 2012 Redesign of the health delivery system included:•	 development	of	multidisciplinary	care	teams•	 	population	management	–	protocol	based	management, self management support and intensive follow up.1,8the intervention resulted in regular community health promotion days for screening and education, and team outreach clinics for the development of self management care plans with patients.the communicare software, which previously was utilised predominantly as an acute care medical record, was used to provide a population approach by:•	 identifying	the	population	at	risk	through	proactive systematic screening (health checks)•	 developing	disease	registers•	 providing	intensive	follow	up	(recalls)•	 best	practice	care	(Chronic	Disease	Care	Plans	and diabetes Annual cycle of care templates)•	 using	this	electronic	information	in	an	audit	cycle as continuous quality improvement. inclusion criteria of patients for the audit were:•	 a	confirmed	diagnosis	of	type	2	diabetes	•	 patient	nomination	of	Fitzroy	Valley	as	their	current residence •	 one	or	more	attendances	at	FVHS	within	the	previous 24 months (1 march 2008 to 1 march 2010). patients were excluded if they had type 1 diabetes, gestational diabetes or if they stated they did not reside in the fitzroy Valley. no limits were placed on age or Aboriginality. Measurement and data collectionprocess indicators (health checks, care plans and diabetes Annual cycle of care completion) and intermediate outcome indicators (achieving therapeutic targets) were measured at the commencement and end of the Rmo placement (1 march and 1 september 2010) to review the impact of the change management process. data was extracted via the report function of the electronic medical record system, communicare.process of care indicators and intermediate therapeutic outcomes were compared before and after the implementation of an enhanced chronic disease program and benchmarked against the continuous quality improvement. At baseline, the number of patients achieving the recommended therapeutic targets ranged between 19.7% and 59.1% (Table 4). A statistically significant improvement in the proportion of patients achieving the therapeutic target for total cholesterol and triglycerides was observed at the completion of the 6 month interval. With the exception of diastolic blood pressure (bp), all other parameters showed some improvement in the number of patients reaching targets, although it was not statistically significant. Discussionthis study provides quantitative evidence of improvement in process and intermediate outcome indicators following the implementation of multidisciplinary, culturally appropriate, coordinated care in the fitzroy Valley. the population prevalence of known diabetes in the fitzroy Valley was calculated to be approximately 10.3%, this is consistent with other remote indigenous communities reported in the literature.13–14 these high rates of type 2 diabetes demonstrate the need for proactive screening for chronic disease and best practice chronic disease management. the improvement in the number of health checks at fVhs will facilitate earlier diagnoses of chronic disease. this has been previously observed in the literature by an urban indigenous health service.15the statistically significant improvement in process indicators also demonstrates the effectiveness of a systematic proactive approach to chronic disease care. there is a suggestion that the improvement in chronic disease process and intermediate outcome indicators, as seen in this audit, will over time result in improved health outcomes.9the implementation of the new model of current regional guideline, The Kimberley Chronic Disease Therapeutic Protocols: Diabetes II10 in a similar manner to other chronic disease audits.11 the protocol is based on the Royal Australian college of General practitioners (RAcGp) and diabetes Australia guidelines for processes of care and therapeutic targets.12diabetes prevalence was calculated using number of people screened as the denominator.statistical analyses were performed using the software program spss (Version 13, chicago, illinois). means and proportions were used to describe continuous and binomial data. differences in process and intermediate outcomes between the two time-points were analysed with paired sample t-tests. tests were two-tailed, with statistical significance at p<0.05.ethics approval was granted by the Western Australia country health service Research ethics committee and Western Australian Aboriginal health information and ethics committee. Resultscharacteristics of the study population are described in Table 1. the estimated prevalence of known diabetes in the fitzroy Valley was 10.3%. the number of patients with a current health check or diabetes Annual cycle of care increased by 242 and 28 respectively. the completion of recommended examinations or investigations during the recommended timeframe at the first time-point (baseline) varied between care types (Table 3). Adherence to the protocol improved across all care items at the second time-point, 1 september 2010 (Table 3). the exception was glycosylated haemoglobin (hbA1c) testing. As the recommended timeframe for some of the indicators are 1 year and 2 years respectively, the data will be recollected at those points as part of Table 1. profile of type 2 diabetes in the fitzroy Valley at 1 March 2010 Population of the Fitzroy Valley, census 2006,  accounting for undercounting of Indigenous Australians53311Regular patients of FVHS with diabetes at 1 March 2010Median age (first to third quartiles) Males (%)Aboriginal (%)34149 (41–58) years133 (39.0%)329 (96.5%)Type 2 diabetes prevalence 10.3%professionalManagement of type 2 diabetes – a  community partnership approachA RepRinted fRom ustRAliAn fAmily physiciAn Vol. 41, no. 1/2, jAnuARy/febRuARy 2012  75elements together in a new model of care. Conclusionorganisational changes, which incorporate clinical information systems and community partnerships, are particularly valuable given the highly mobile nature of both patients and healthcare providers in remote settings such as the fitzroy Valley. this audit is an initial step in the chronic disease quality improvement cycle. our findings demonstrate an effective chronic disease model for rural and remote Aboriginal communities. it is hoped that future quality improvement audits will care saw improvement across most outcome indicators, most notably in cholesterol and triglyceride levels. it is challenging to compare the number of patients achieving therapeutic targets at fVhs to that of other health services published in the literature due to the use of varied ‘target outcomes’.16–18 however, the proportion of patients at fVhs achieving targets, such as hbA1c, was generally similar to that of a major metropolitan sydney teaching hospital19 and community health centres in the northern territory.16As described by Wagner9 we found the key elements of a successful chronic disease program to be:•	 community	policy	and	resources	to	enable	redesign of healthcare •	 redesign	of	healthcare	–	multidisciplinary	care	teams and clinical information systems, which enable population management•	 delivery	system	design,	decision	support	and	self management.Although the partnership and clinical information system had been in place for several years, this project provided a catalyst for a coordinated team approach, which was the key to bringing all the Table 2. performance of relevant Medicare Chronic Disease Care initiatives at fitzroy Valley Health serviceAt 1 March 2010 At 1 September 2010Eligible clientsCompleted check n (%)Eligible clients Completed check n (%)Adult indigenous health checksMales with current MBS Item 710 claimed 982 38 (3.9) 1049 126 (12.0)Females with current MBS Item 710 claimed 1119 4  (0.4) 1153 84  (7.3)Males with current MBS Item 704 or 706 claimed 120 3  (2.5) 128 30  (23.4)Females with current MBS Item 704 claimed 130 1  (0.8) 141 18  (12.8)Total 2351 46 (2.0) 2471 258 (10.4)Diabetes annual cycle of careCycle of care claimed within 12 months 341 3  (0.9) 352 31  (8.8)Note: In 2010 MBS Item numbers 704–710 were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Checks (item 710 for people aged 15–54 years; items 704 or 706 for those aged 55 years or more)Table 3. process indicators completed during the scheduled interval according to the type 2 diabetes protocol at fitzroy Valley Health servicePopulation receiving service (%) during the preceding scheduled intervalDifference in proportion receiving service Significance(two-tailed)Scheduled interval (months)1 March 2010 1 September 2010Systolic BP 6 75.7% 77.1% 1.5 0.588Diastolic BP 6 75.7% 77.1% 1.6 0.588HbA1c 6 68.0% 62.8% – 5.2 0.139BMI 6 42.2% 51.3% 9.1 0.008Foot examination 6 6.2% 17.6% 11.4 0.000Urine albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR)12 67.7% 74.5% 6.8 0.008Creatinine 12 76.0% 76.5% 0.5 0.76Total cholesterol 12 77.1% 81.2% 4.1 0.035Triglycerides 12 75.7% 79.8% 4.1 0.035Visual acuity 12 9.7% 18.5% 8.8 0.000Retinal screening 24 27.0% 26.1% – 0.9 0.59Management of type 2 diabetes – a  community partnership approachprofessional76  RepRinted fRom AustRAliAn fAmily physiciAn Vol. 41, no. 1/2, jAnuARy/febRuARy 2012demonstrate further improvements in both care processes and outcomes. Authorssusan harch mbbs(hons), bmedsc(hons), is population health Resident medical officer, Kimberley population health unit, broome, Western Australia. susanharch@gmail.comdavid Reeve bsc(hons), drph, is Acting primary health manager, Kimberley population health unit, broome, Western Australiacarole Reeve mbchb, mph, is public health medical officer, Kimberley population health unit, broome, Western Australia.conflict of interest: none declared.References1. national health priority Action council. national chronic disease strategy. department of health and Ageing, 2006.2. national Aboriginal community controlled health organisation and the Royal Australian college of General practitioners 2005. evidence base to a preventive health assessment in Aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples. Available at www.racgp.org.au/content/navigationmenu/clinicalResources/RAcGpGuidelines/nationalguidetoapreventiveas sessmentin Aboriginalandtorresstraitislanderpeoples /200509evidence_base.pdf.3. Australian bureau of statistics. 4715.0 – national Aboriginal and torres strait islander health survey, 2004–2005. commonwealth of Australia: canberra, 2006.4. Wang Z, hoy W. Association between diabe-tes and coronary heart disease in Aboriginal people: are women disadvantaged? med j Aust 2004;180:508–11.5. 2006 census of population and housing, postal Area 6765. canberra: Australian bureau of statistics 2006. Available at www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/b1bcf4e6dd320A0bcA25714c001822bc/$file/47150_2004-05.pdf.6. World health organization. health care: Report of the international conference on primary health care; Alma-Ata, union of soviet socialist Republics 6–12 september 1978. Geneva, 1978.7. Wagner eh. chronic disease management: What will it take to improve care for chronic illness? eff clin pract 1998;1:2–4.8. World health organization. preparing a health care workforce for the 21st century. the challenge of chronic conditions. Geneva, 2005.9. Wagner eh. the role of patient care teams in chronic disease management. bmj 2000;320:569–72.10. Kimberley Aboriginal medical services council. Kimberley chronic disease therapeutic protocols: diabetes type ii [updated 15th july 2009]. Available at www.kamsc.org.au/resources/resourceguidelines.html [Accessed 27 April 2010].11. menzies school of health Research. the menzies institute Audit and best practice for chronic disease tools (Abcd). Available at http://menzies.edu.au/research/services-systems-and-society/abcd-national-research-parnership-project/bene-fits-health-serv [Accessed 20 september 2011].12. the Royal Australian college of General practitioners and diabetes Australia, diabetes management in General practice, 17th edn, 20011/12. Available at www.racgp.org.au/content/navigationmenu/clinicalResources/RAcGpGuidelines/diabetesmanagement/201107diabetesmanagementingeneralpractice.pdf [Accessed 16 september 2011].13. maple-brown lj, brimblecombe j, chisholm dj, et al. diabetes care and complications in a remote primary health care setting. diabetes Res clin pract 2004; 64:77–83.14. couzos s, melanie t, colagiuri s, colagiuri R. Adult health, diabetes prevention and early detection. in: national Aboriginal community controlled health organisation, editor. evidence base to a preventive health assessment in Aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples. melbourne: the Royal Australian college of General practitioners; 2005, p. 51–65.15. spurling G, hayman n, cooney A. Adult health checks for indigenous Australians: the first year’s experience from inala indigenous health service. med j Aust 2009;190:562–4.16. si d, bailie R, connors c, et al. Assessing health centre systems for guiding improvement in diabe-tes care. bmc health serv Res 2005;5:56.17. simmons d, bourke l, yau e, hoodless m. diabetes risk factors, diabetes and diabetes care Table 4. outcome indicators – proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes achieving therapeutic targets at fitzroy Valley Health serviceTherapeutic target Proportion achieving target (%) (n=341) Difference in proportion achieving target Significance(two-tailed)1 March 2010 1 September 2010HbA1c <7% 28.4% 28.7% 0.3 0.86Total cholesterol <4 mmol/L 24.1% 28.1% 4.0 0.028Triglycerides <2 mmol/L 39.4% 44.7%  5.3 0.029ACR <3.5 mg/mmol creatinine 28.3% 29.6% 1.3 0.40Systolic BP <125 mmHg 40.6% 42.8%  2.2 0.45Diastolic BP <80 mmHg 59.1% 57.2% – 1.9 0.54BMI <25 kg/m2 19.7% 20.1%  0.4 0.76in a rural Australian community. Aust j Rural health 2007;15:296–303.18. tapp Rj. diabetes care in an Australian popula-tion: frequency of screening examinations for eye and foot complications of diabetes. diabetes care 2004;27:688.19. bryant W, Greenfield jR, chisholm dj, campbell lV. diabetes guidelines: easier to preach than to practise? med j Aust 2006;185:305–9.

Management of type 2 diabetes

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Management of type 2 diabetes

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