Together2Goal

Diabetes is a staggering $332 billion dollar problem impacting the health 1 in 11 US adults and children. (1) It brings a great risk of serious and potentially fatal health complications. Choosing the best available health care is vital for patients with diabetes and those at risk of pre-diabetes.

Together2Goal® is an AMGA chronic care campaign aimed at improving the care and health for 1 million people with type 2 diabetes by 2019.

Premier Medical Associates is delivering some of the country’s best results in health management for patients with diabetes.  We are succeeding at partnering with our patients to lower their A1c levels, slow the adverse effects of the disease and reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital stays.

Background

The AMGA Foundation leads chronic care initiatives where the most prestigious and innovative medical groups and strategic partners in the US to collaborate to address the nation’s leading health concerns. Together2Goal® is a campaign aimed at diabetes, following the national success of the Measure Up/Pressure Down™ campaign aimed at hypertension.

With an estimated 84 million at risk for prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes (1), US doctors see this as a top priority. Within the AMGA collaborative, thousands of physicians are focused on advancing the standard of diabetic care; specifically lowering and maintaining A1c levels, improving blood pressure control, and reducing the risk of heart and kidney complications for patients with diabetes.

Premier is a leading partner with other innovative AMGA member groups to share patient population health data and bring the best care practices as part of a critical health initiative.

Our Results

Over 4,000 physicians are focused on advancing the standard of diabetic care, specifically lowering and maintaining A1c levels and sharing their data as part of this collaborative. As of June 2017, ten of Premier’s primary care physicians were trending in the top ten percent for better managing their patient’s A1c levels for that reporting period.

Significant preparation and commitment are behind this level of success. A team of physicians, nurses, dieticians, pharmacist and operations staff was established at the start to review the campaign’s best practices and develop an implementation strategy for our patients with diabetes. Clinical team members frequently discussed the need for improved diabetes care with patients via the phone and during office visits.

The area of greatest opportunity was to increase the percent of our patients with diabetes taking statins to lower their cholesterol and reduce their risk of heart disease. Multiple approaches were used to successfully improve the percentage of patients who received this evidence-based care, including adding a cardiovascular risk calculator to our health record platform. This risk score enabled care team members added support when discussing the need for statins to lower cardiovascular risk with patients.

We’ve significantly increased the rate of patients with diabetes with well-controlled sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol since the beginning of Together 2 Goal. While this campaign will conclude in March 2019, the lessons learned will be used ongoing for patient care.

Why It Matters To You

Diabetes has a profound impact on the individual patient and their families. Providing a higher standard of care and health management to our patients with diabetes greatly improves their quality of life and holds great value to their families. Premier’s high-performing primary care teams provide a unique frontline dedication keeping patient healthier – avoiding the many costly downsides of this disease.

(1) Statistics sourced from the American Diabetes Association.

Related Resources

www.diabetes.org(opens in a new tab)
www.together2goal.org(opens in a new tab)
Acclaim Award
Population Health Award