Improve diabetes care, patient education
through GO! Diabetes

The GO! Diabetes program, an initiative of the Georgia and Oklahoma chapters of the American Academy of Family Physicians, is looking to expand to Texas family medicine practices and residency programs. In its third year, the GO! Diabetes program enables family medicine residency programs and private practices to identify, initiate, and implement clinical, practice, and system-based quality improvements to enhance their education and care of patients with diabetes.

GO! Diabetes was founded in 2008 and is funded by an educational grant by Sanofi Aventis. In 2010, the program expanded to include 48 family medicine residency programs from 15 states and a pilot program for 37 private practices in Georgia and Oklahoma. It is driven in the individual practice or residency program by self-appointed “change agents.”

The program uses METRIC, for its data-gathering and measurement ability. METRIC is an approved, online quality improvement tool from AAFP and a requirement for ongoing board certification for family physicians (Part IV of the American Board of Family Medicine’s Maintenance of Certification). It provides step-by-step instructions on how to review patient charts, assess performance, build and implement an action plan and reassess progress in the months following the onsite training session in the change agent’s chosen practice improvement area.

“The benefits of the GO! Diabetes program are found in its simplicity, structure and support,” said Sam Blackstock, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians, in a press release. “With incentives and stipends for our change agents built into the program, there’s no investment except time. While improving our processes for care, we’re also chipping away at the barriers to care for patients with diabetes and that’s priceless.”

If your private practice or residency program is interested in participating in the 2011 program, please contact Susan Reichman, B.S.N., GO! Diabetes program director, at susan@godiabetes.org, or visit www.godiabetes.org.