APhA diabetes initiative marks three years

WASHINGTON The American Pharmacists Association Foundation’s Diabetes Ten City Challenge is entering its fourth year, and APhA officials are celebrating by citing the program’s successes and its cost-saving potential in the midst of a foundering economy.

Launched in 2005, the Ten City Challenge is an employer-based diabetes self-management program conducted by the APhA Foundation with support from GlaxoSmithKline. The effort involves 30 employers in Charleston, S.C.; Chicago, Ill., Colorado Springs, Colo.; Cumberland, Md.; Dalton, Ga.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Los Angeles, Calif.; Milwaukee, Wis., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Tampa Bay, Fla.

Under the challenge program, participating employers establish a voluntary health benefit for employees, dependents and retirees with diabetes, and waive co-payments for diabetes medications and supplies if the patients work with a pharmacist “coach” to manage their condition. The program is modeled after other successful APhA initiatives that have been shown to improve overall health, reduce absenteeism, shorten hospital stays and reduce health care costs.

“When we launched the DTCC three years ago, we wanted to fundamentally change the way chronic disease is treated and paid for by emphasizing the importance of investing in wellness and using incentives to reward everyone involved,” said APhA Foundation chief executive officer William Ellis. “Today, hundreds of pharmacists are helping more than 1,000 people successfully manage their diabetes and improve their lives, thanks to the participation of 30 employers in 10 cities.

Earlier this year, the group revealed interim results for 914 DTCC participants. Those results showed statistically significant improvements in patient satisfaction and key clinical measures including blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Final economic and clinical data will be published in March 2009.

“In our years of experience with this model, we have seen that when you have positive clinical outcomes and increased patient satisfaction in the early stages, the economic benefits follow,” Ellis said. “The interim data is tracking similarly with past successful programs that utilized the collaborative care model, and we are excited about how the DTCC is transforming people's lives.”