UNITED MEDICAL CENTER LAUNCHES DIABETES EDUCATION PROGRAM

Every 21 seconds someone in the United States finds out that they have diabetes which represents 4320 newly diagnosed patients every day.  An estimated 23.6 million Americans have diabetes mellitus, accounting for 7% of the U.S. population.  By 2050, experts estimate that the number of Americans living with diabetes will be more than double.
When looking at the impact of diabetes on the health care system, published studies have found that patients with diabetes are hospitalized twice as often compared to those patients that do not have diabetes.   Patient with diabetes also tend to stay in the hospital 30 percent longer which has a tremendous impact on direct health care costs. 
The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion.  Medical expenditures totaled $116 billion and were comprised of $27 billion for diabetes care, $58 billion for chronic diabetes-related complications, and $31 billion for excess general medical costs.  
There is growing evidence that hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients is associated with short term adverse outcomes.  Since the prevalence of diabetes continues to escalate the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JACHO) has recommended that hospitals focus on the following areas: 

• Staff education in the management of diabetes
• Written blood glucose monitoring protocols for patients with diabetes
• A plan for coordinating insulin administration with the delivery of meals
• Individualized plans for treatment of hypo- and hyperglycemia
• Performance improvement programs to evaluates episodes of hypoglycemia for root-cause and systematic trends

With a renewed focus on the management of diabetes, on October 1, 2007, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) required that hospitals begin to report whether certain diagnoses are present on admission.  Uncontrolled diabetes and hospital acquired death/disability from hypoglycemia now must be documented in the medical record.  It is critical that hospitals begin to explore systematic ways to apply evidence based guidelines for the management of diabetes.  A focus on multi-departmental documentation of all diabetes related activities is the key to meeting the performance standards that are required by JACHO and CMS.  Some examples of required performance measure would include:

• Diabetes Diagnosis documented on admission
• Poor Blood Sugar Control diagnosed on admission
• Hemoglobin A1C ordered upon admission
• Blood glucose trending and documentation
• Medical Nutrition Therapy
• Management of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
• Intensive diabetes care management and goal attainment

In order to address the latest regulatory requirements and with a commitment to best practices, United Medical Center (UMC) is proud to announce their Comprehensive Diabetes Education Program.  This program is structured to will improve the quality of care for diabetes patients admitted to the hospital.  The program will also provide outpatient education classes that will be open to all patients in the UMC catchment area.  The program will be provided by Healing Our Village, Inc., a health communication company that specializes in educating diverse populations with chronic diseases. 

Healing Our Village, Inc. (HOV) is a minority owned chronic disease management, advocacy, and medical education company founded in 2003.  The company is focused on improving health and the delivery of healthcare to medically underserved consumers.  The company was founded and operates on the premise of a commitment to reduce health disparities in areas of some of the most common chronic diseases affecting underserved minority communities. The Lanham based organization has as its CEO – James R Gavin III, MD - nationally recognized endocrinologist and diabetes expert as well as President and Founder, Lenore T. Coleman, Clinical Pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator. 

The UMC Diabetes Education Program has two main goals:

• To provide an education and training to medical and nursing staff sufficient to enable development of new capabilities to improve diabetes care within the inpatient setting. 
• To establish a state-of-the art inpatient diabetes program, with direct provision of education and training services to patients, and development of infrastructure and staff skills to assure sustainable program of diabetes self-management education going forward.
• To optimize and assure the continuum of care for patients with diabetes moving from the inpatient to the outpatient setting.

Some of the specific components of the program will include:

• Education and training medical, nursing, pharmacy and dietary staff on the current guidelines and national standards for inpatient diabetes management
•  Provide assistance with bedside education and training on diabetes self-management
• Work with discharge planning to establish an efficient and effective process of referral of in-house diabetes patients back to their primary care providers
• Assist with the development and coordination of multidisciplinary diabetes care team and ongoing team meetings
• Assist with the customization and implementation of guidelines, standard operating procedures, and flow sheets for the medical-surgical units as well as for the critical care units Coordination of referral of in-house diabetes patients to the outpatient diabetes program.
• Build an ongoing relationship with attending physicians to enhance referrals to outpatient program.
• Provision of diabetes education and nutrition classes and individual follow-up appointments in the outpatient setting.

References available upon request.

Healing Our Village, announces its NEW patient education support program – VILLAGE CLUB.

For just $29.95 for a ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP, Village Club members can receive the following:

• Unlimited access to Village Talk Podcasts
• FREE consultation with a clinical pharmacist, diabetes educator or registered dietician.
• 50% discount on all books and videos

SIGN-UP today and begin to LIVE A LONGER AND HEALTHIER LIFE!!!!

Dr. James R. Gavin III, M.D., PhD. to receive the 2008 Bernardo Alberto Houssay Award

Dr. James R. Gavin, III, M.D., PhD. will receive the 2008 Bernardo Alberto Houssay Award for Outstanding Contributions to the elimination of diabetes in minority communities.  It is been awarded by the National Minority Quality Forum and The Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust on Monday, April 14th at 12:00pm.

2008 Bernardo Alberto Houssay Award
Born in Argentina in 1887, Bernardo Alberto Houssay received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947 for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar.  The Bernardo Alberto Houssey Award recognizes an individual or organization for outstanding contributions toward the elimination of diabetes in minority communities.

"Village Talk" Radio Show

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Healing Our Village Clinical Research Engaged by TAP Pharmaceuticals with Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial

HOV Clinical Research has been engaged by TAP Pharmaceuticals to assist in recruiting African American patients in its prostate cancer clinical trial of a new formulation of Lupron Depot. The study is a Phase 3, Multi-Center, Open-Label, Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Two 6-Month Leuprolide Formulations, in Subjects With Prostatic Adenocarcinoma.  The total estimated enrollment for the study is 300 patients. The study is actively enrolling and will look to conclude in September 2009.

Internationally Recognized Diabetes Expert, Dr. James R. Gavin III, M.D., PhD. assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer for Healing Our Village, Inc.

Dr. James R. Gavin, III, M.D., PhD. is the foremost clinical advisor in the area of diabetes and he joins the Lanham, Maryland based firm as it introduces Wellness Connexions™, a proprietary disease / medication therapy management program. Dr. Gavin graduated from Livingstone College in Salisbury , N.C. , in 1966 with a degree in chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Emory University in 1970 and his M.D. degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 1975. Dr. Gavin is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Senior Health Advisor on Health Affairs, Emory University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, in Atlanta, GA where he was president from 2002-2004. He served as senior scientific officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) from 1991-2002 and director of the HHMI-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program from 2000-2002.

Dr. Gavin adds the role of Chief Executive Officer at Healing Our Village, Inc. to an already impressive list of organizations, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Diabetes Association, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, the Association of Black Cardiologists, Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Society and the Sigma Pi Phi Leadership Fraternity. He is a past president of the American Diabetes Association and was voted Clinician of the Year by ADA in Diabetes in 1991.

Dr. Gavin is the past chairperson of the National Diabetes Education Program and a past member of the Advisory Council to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). He is also chairman of the Data Safety Monitoring Board for the VA Cooperative Diabetes Study. He has published more than 180 articles and abstracts in such publications as Science, Journal of Applied Physiology, Diabetes, and the American Journal of Physiology. He is author of two books “Healing Our Village: A Self-Care Guide for Diabetes Control” (with Dr. Lenore T. Coleman, President of Healing Our Village) and “Dr. Gavin’s Health Guide for African Americans” (with S. Landrum ).

Healing Our Village was founded in 2004 by Dr. Lenore T. Coleman, PharmD, CDE to deliver diabetes education to underserved groups. August 1, 2005 will mark the launch of the Wellness Connexions™ model and a full suite of educational products and services, Wellness on Demand™ Training materials are available in a wide range of languages to ensure that minority populations are not overlooked. Wellness Connexions™ offers a unique model for effective chronic disease management with emphasis on improving clinical outcomes through direct patient interaction.  Through this model “at risk” patients improve their medication adherence and receive ongoing clinical follow-up with multiple points of access to comprehensive patient education.