Kryptiq Care Manager Diabetes Module Effective In Managing Diabetes

The medical group presented the results of Kryptiq's Care Manager Diabetes Module at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference.

This module showed a 58 % increase in number of diabetic patients who benefited. The one year study showed that the patients achieved control of their cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Providence Medical Group documented a 250% increase in the foot screenings thereby helping to reduce the rate of later amputations.

The module also reduced the risk of heart disease among the 6000 diabetic patients.

This program was the result of reduced outcomes of the chronic patients from the electronic medical records. It is known that heart disease rates are two to four times higher in patients with diabetes. In case of non-trauma related lower-limb amputations it is about 60% with diabetes.

Care Manager's Diabetes Module is linked with GE's Centricity Physician Office Electronic Medical Record at Providence. This module gives detail information to the providers about the health status of their patient population, and brings together patient information already stored in the organization's electronic health record.

This module displays on the screen a visual status report for clinicians, giving importance to the areas such as disease-management compliance, and informing the providers about the areas of non-compliance. By this it is easy for the physicians to identify at-risk patients, give proper attention and appropriate treatments, and receive feedbacks about their performance.

If treatment is given at the right time then it is known to improve diabetes management, and cut the risks of later complications. But according to the study only about 55 % of the diabetic patients receive proper medical care at the right time which led to the development of this innovative module. Dr. Joe Siemienczuk, chief medical officer at Providence Medical Group said that after a year this module has proved that physicians can significantly raise the level of care simply by investing in appropriate technology.

This module was extensively used in about 12 areas in the greater Portland area. Apart from improving the patient care methods the Providence Medical Group also experienced enhanced financial returns. It generated more than $4,000 of additional revenue per physician in the first year of use, without hiring any additional staff.

In addition to diabetes the module is also available for management and prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke. The group is planning to market various modules for smoking cessation, osteoporosis, and cancer screening by the end of 2006.