Nurse Telephone Management of Cholesterol in Diabetes

The current project is evaluating the effect of a nurse-administered phone care in diabetes to improve access to care and healthcare delivery. The setting is a federally qualified community health center serving over 1600 diabetic patients, 80% of whom are Latino. Using our diabetes registry, we have randomly assigned 762 patients to either participate in a telephone-based, nurse-run outreach program (N=381) or to continue with usual care(N=381). Three of our registered nurses learned algorithms addressing management of cholesterol, blood pressure, kidney disease, aspirin use, eye screening, and pneumovax and influenza vaccines. The program began recruitment in September 2005 and has finished follow up in May 2007. The program initially focused only on cholesterol management utilizing national guidelines and algorithms on patients with elevated cholesterol (LDL) levels but has expanded to include glycemic and blood pressure control. We found that Registered Nurses were able and willing to provide telephone care to diabetic patients according to moderately complex algorithms and to track patient data electronically with overall job satisfaction. Overall, the nurses have expressed enthusiasm but have also experience frustrations with maintaining contact and improving motivation in patients. The impact of this program on diabetes outcomes and its cost-effectiveness is currently being analyzed with the goal of implementing this program in our institution.

This randomized, controlled trial tested the effectiveness of a nurse-run, telephone-based intervention to improve lipid control in patients with diabetes. Our patient population is predominantly low-income and Latino. Using our diabetes registry, we randomly assigned 381 patients to continue with their usual care and 381 to participate in our nurse run program. Three registered nurses learned algorithms for diabetes care. These algorithms address management of lipids, glycemic control, blood pressure, nephropathy, aspirin use, eye screening, pneumovax and influenza vaccines, obesity, and cigarette smoking. The nurses were also trained in motivational interviewing techniques and facilitation of patient self-management. The primary goal was to improve lipid control in our diabetic population. Secondary outcomes address blood pressure control, glycemic control, renal function, and medication adherence. In addition, a cost-effective analysis is being performed.