Diabetes management with a care coordinator improves glucose control in African Americans and Hispanics

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate diabetes control, as measured by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) improvements among African American and Hispanic patients receiving conventional clinical treatment combined with a bilingual diabetes educator using culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials. This study also sought to estimate the healthcare cost savings resulting from any A1c improvements and assess the cost-effectiveness of this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a multistage, face-to-face observational study undertaken in Texas, United States and focused on 153 African American and Hispanic patients with poor blood glucose control (baseline A1c >8.0%). For two years, a bilingual care coordinator motivated patient behavior changes that could lead to improvements in glucose control. The primary evaluation measure was change in %HbA1c, with secondary measures being change in blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). We also sought to gauge the program's potential cost-effectiveness. RESULTS Within the study group, A1c levels decreased over the study period from a mean of 10.0% to 8.4%. The same group saw no statistically significant improvement (reduction) in blood concentrations of LDL. The African American subgroup had a small reduction in systolic BP while changes for non-White Hispanics were not statistically significant. The average A1c reduction realized in this observational study provided estimated cost savings that are nearly twice pilot expenditures. CONCLUSIONS Combining standard diabetes care with a bilingual educational care coordinator results in significant reductions in mean A1c (-1.6% HbA1c) in patients with poorly controlled blood glucose and African American/non-White Hispanic heritage, an intervention that also was shown to be cost-effective. This may be an effective model for improving diabetes care in provider practices.