TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- VA patients with diabetes are more likely to receive recommended tests and have better outcomes than managed-care patients with diabetes, claims a study in the Aug. 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study included 1,285 diabetics at five VA medical centers and 6,920 diabetics in eight managed-care health plans. Researchers compared whether patients received seven standard recommended tests and checked whether patients were within acceptable limits for blood pressure, cholesterol and hemoglobin A1c.
The VA patients received appropriate care more often than managed-care patients and did better on two of the three outcomes.
"A nationally funded health-care system can provide excellent quality of care. The VA has instituted system-wide standards, integrated care, and a way to track and monitor how their patients are doing. Other organizations can learn from the VA and how they achieved their quality improvements over the last 10 years," study author Dr. Eve Kerr, a research scientist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a prepared statement.
More information
The National Diabetes Education Program has information about controlling your diabetes.
