Managing diabetes is an important part of keeping kidneys healthy, making March’s National Kidney Month observance the perfect time to promote kidney health to loved ones, patients and community.

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults 65 years and older have diabetes. Ethnic and racial minorities have a higher prevalence of diabetes than Caucasians. Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in adults and a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Medical practices include large percentages of patients with diabetes.

Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is a proven intervention for empowering persons with diabetes to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to improve the quality of their lives. DSME can lessen and even prevent severe complications resulting from diabetes, such as kidney failure, amputations, vision loss, heart failure and stroke.

Using lessons learned from the national Everyone with Diabetes Counts (EDC) program, atom Alliance works with providers throughout Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee to educate them on the Medicare diabetes self-management training and medical nutrition therapy (MNT) benefits. We offer train-the-trainer programs to increase the numbers of certified diabetes educators and community health workers.

We can help:

• Improve clinical outcomes of HbA1c, lipids, blood pressure and weight control for people with diabetes;
• Decrease the number of patients requiring lower extremity amputation resulting from poorly controlled diabetes;
• Improve health literacy of Medicare and dual-eligible patients with diabetes in at-risk populations through DSME training classes;
• Increase adherence and appropriate use of utilization measures and clinical guidelines for HbA1c, lipids and eye exams .

Encourage your patients to become more involved in their quality of care. Educate them about attending DSME classes that can provide valuable information about how to control their disease. Classes provide information on how to lower their risk for kidney disease by controlling blood sugar and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol at set levels.

Make sure your patients know that making healthy food choices, being more physically active, and quitting smoking can help keep kidneys healthy.

atom Alliance invites you to ensure all patients with diabetes and pre-diabetes take part in DSME classes. We will also work with you to offer classes in your community. By making certain all people with diabetes are referred for DSME, you not only engage patients and champion kidney health, but you also improve outcomes for patients.