Empower your patients with diabetes self-management education

By the Texas Diabetes Council

Diabetes education works. But less than 60 percent of people with diabetes have had formal diabetes education. Physicians can increase that number by referring their patients with diabetes to diabetes self-management education.

Research shows that people who have received diabetes education are more likely to:

• Use primary care and preventive services,
• Take medications as prescribed,
• Control their blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, and
• Have lower health costs.

The Texas Diabetes Council and the Texas Department of State Health Services have created new materials for providers to empower their patients with diabetes through DSME. The message to patients is, “Do you have diabetes? Help yourself to better health.”

Physicians and health care providers can access the updated Texas Diabetes Council toolkit, download or order free educational materials, and locate local DSME programs at www.tdctoolkit.org. Materials include:

• A poster for display in physician offices,
• An informational card and fact sheet for distribution to patients, and
• A patient referral form in tear-off pads for physicians to refer patients to a DSME program. The form also features an algorithm that defines four critical times to assess, provide, and adjust DSME.

Diabetes self-management education is a benefit covered by Medicare and most health plans when provided by a diabetes educator within an accredited/recognized program.