The impact of planned visits on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clin Med Endocrinol Diabetes 2009

Objectives: To investigate whether planned visits improve glycemic, blood pressure and lipid control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: The study was conducted from July 2007 to February 2008 at a primary care clinic in Rancho Cordova, California. One hundred eighty-three patients were invited to come to a planned visit. On the day of the visit, they were provided a copy of their most recent test results and information on American Diabetes Association recommendations for A1C, lipid, and blood pressure control. Afterwards, they met with their physician for a 15-minute focused appointment. Finally, they met with a diabetic nurse educator. There was no subsequent contact with the nurse educator after the planned visit. We compared the baseline measurements to those from a follow-up visit with the primary care provider at a follow-up over a 6 month period. The comparison group in this study were those who did not accept the invitation for a planned visit. Their outcomes were monitored over the same time horizon. Results: One hundred eighty-three patients attended one of a total of fi ve planned visit sessions. There were 212 patients in the comparison group. There were no signifi cant differences for the measured baseline characteristics. There were sig-nifi cant improvements in A1C, LDL-C, and diastolic blood pressure control in the planned visit group. The mean A1C change was −0.61 % (95 % confi dence interval, −0.28, −0.70); P 0.001). The mean LDL-C change was −8.8 mg/dL (95% confi dence interval, −12.2, 6.1); P 0.05. The mean diastolic blood pressure change was −2.0 mmHg (95 % confi denc