Assessing the Effect of Quality-Improvement Strategies for Organization of Care in Type 2 Diabetes Outcomes in Adults: Aim-Strait

Objectives: To observe the effect of an organization-of-care improvement process on the achievement of therapeutic goals for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: This single-arm cohort study analyzed the electronic medical records of patients with T2DM in 5 primary care practices in Ontario, Canada, before and 2 years after implementation of an individualized quality-improvement program. The primary outcome was the change in glycated hemoglobin (A1C) between baseline and follow up, with secondary analyses including change in other metabolic parameters, medication patterns and clinic visits. Prespecified subgroup analysis of patients with baseline values above guideline therapeutic targets was performed.

Results: In the overall population of 1,886 patients, A1C improved from 7.1% (baseline) to 7.0% (follow up) (p<0.001); low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) improved from 2.1 to 1.9 mmol/L (p<0.001); and diastolic blood pressure (BP) improved from 75 to 74 mmHg (p<0.001), with no significant change observed in systolic BP. Of those patients who were above guideline-recommended therapeutic targets at baseline, improvements were observed at follow-up: A1C 8.3±1.3% to 7.8±1.3% (p<0.001), LDL-C 2.9±0.7 mmol/L to 2.4±0.9 mmol/L (p<0.001), systolic BP 144±11 to 134±16 mmHg (p<0.001) and diastolic BP 80±10 to 75±11 mmHg (p<0.001), with the percentages of patients achieving target at follow up being 32% for A1C, 40% for LDL-C and 49% for systolic BP. Overall, 22% of patients achieved all 3 targets at baseline compared to 28% at follow up (p<0.001).

Conclusions: The implementation of an organization-of-care improvement program in primary care was associated with improved metabolic control, which was most pronounced in patients with baseline levels above guideline-recommended therapeutic targets.