Kellie Rodriguez Discusses Person-Centered Factors Driving Diabetes Outcomes

The person-centered factors that drive outcomes in diabetes requires hospital systems that can actually address those needs, said Kellie Rodriguez, RN, MSN, MBA, CDE, director, Global Diabetes Program, Parkland Health & Hospital System.

Which outcomes in patient-centric care for diabetes can make the most difference for patients with diabetes?

So, certainly in diabetes care, one of the most important things that we do is we track outcomes. Clinical outcomes, in particular, around A1C [glycated hemoglobin], A1C testing, blood pressure, lipids, we test for renal conditions and success. So, there’s a lot of those clinical elements—foot exams and things like that—which are a little more system-driven initiatives. They all require patient-centered involvement, but a lot of those can be process pieces. So, a lot of systems are putting in strategies for doing point-of-care A1C testing and point-of-care retinal screening to make access to those screening needs easier.

What we’re finding, I think, is some of the outcome measures that become more complex, ones that are around A1C control about 9%, [emergency department] utilization, and hospitalization sort of metrics, where it’s not so much about implementing a step, but multiple steps, and they’re very person-centric. We’re finding that with our own health system that we recognize that it’s not necessarily the management of the disease, but a lot of the person-centered factors—social determinants of health factors—that really drive those outcomes. And that requires a health system to be able to be prepared for those kinds of needs and to be able to address those kinds of needs to achieve the clinical outcomes that are required.