Achieving the Triple Aim in Diabetes Care Through Innovative Partnerships
Original Research from VSP Demonstrates Successful Interventions
For more than 30 years, healthcare systems have come up short in trying to achieve the Triple Aim in diabetes care.
Triple Aim in healthcare, first created by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in 2007, demonstrates that healthcare systems can improve health while also managing costs and improving patient satisfaction. The Triple Aim is particularly important for Medicare Advantage plans, which seek to improve health outcomes for older Americans, while competing for higher CMS star ratings.
Medicare-eligible people, those age 65 and older, make up 42.9% (16.5 million) of the total population of Americans with diabetes.1 To help reduce the likelihood of health complications for Medicare Advantage members with diabetes, it is important to control hemoglobin A1c levels.2
And yet, the CDC report in May 2024 shows that only 11.1% of all Americans with diabetes are managing their ABCS1 (A1c, blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking) to recommended levels. This data is not much different than it was in 1990, when Medicare claims data shows that only 16% of older Americans with diabetes had their A1c levels tested in the previous year.3
It may feel as if health plans and their network providers have tried everything to help control A1c levels and reduce costly complications. However, older Americans with diabetes are still suffering the consequences—like diabetic retinopathy—of poorly managed A1c.4
New Research from VSP® Vision Care
Undeterred, VSP Vision Care, in separate partnerships with Everly Health and Teladoc® Health, is leveraging virtual care to engage patients in controlling their diabetes.
As a result of the Everly Health partnership, 59% of people with A1c in the prediabetic or diabetic range received eye exams.
VSP’s work with Teladoc has seen results that include:
- A 1.5 (average) reduction in A1c levels.
- A $121 PMPM savings for members with diabetes.
- A net promoter score of +62, four points higher than the industry average of +58.
Learn more about these successful interventions in our new white paper, paper, Minding the Gaps: Innovative Partnerships to Close Gaps in Diabetes Care.
Eye Care Is Health Care
Eye care is health care. This has been VSP’s mantra for years. Why? Because a WellVision Exam® from a VSP network doctor can help detect early signs of 273 chronic health and eye issues, including cataracts, diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, high cholesterol, hypertension, and macular degeneration.
Read the report for strategies you can implement today.
Contact us to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can adapt these interventions for your Medicare Advantage plans.
1, 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (May 15, 2024.) National Diabetes Statistics Report
2 American Diabetes Association, Health Checks for People with Diabetes
3 Schuster, Mark A., Elizabeth A. McGlynn, and Robert H. Brook for the RAND Corporation. (1998.) "How Good Is the Quality of Health Care in the United States?" Millbank Quarterly; 76(4): 517-563.