Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project

The Wisconsin Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Department of Population Health Sciences, members of the Wisconsin Diabetes Advisory Group, and state HMOs developed the Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project in 1998. The Collaborative Project’s strategic goals include: implementing and evaluating the Wisconsin Diabetes Mellitus Essential Care Guidelines; sharing resources, population-based strategies, and best practices among collaborators; and improving diabetes care through collaborative quality improvement initiatives.

The goal of this program is to improve diabetes care in Wisconsin.

Aggregate data from the Project's most recent report show that Wisconsin collaborators performed at a level that exceeded National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) national Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) measure averages on each of the nine Comprehensive Diabetes Care measures (A1C monitoring, A1C good control, A1C poor control, LDL-cholesterol screening, LDL-cholesterol control, blood pressure control <140/90 mmHg, blood pressure control <130/80 mmgHg, eye exams, and medical attention for kidney disease). Additionally, in general, quality has improved for each of the Comprehensive Diabetes Care measures since the Project began in 1998. The majority of Wisconsin's HMOs currently participate in the project. Collaborators also initiated several statewide quality improvement initiatives to address areas in which they wished to improve quality. Recently, collaborators invited other Wisconsin chronic disease programs to use and report program specific HEDIS® data collected by HMOs, as part of program integration efforts. Chronic diseases programs include the Arthritis, Asthma, Comprehensive Cancer, and Heart Disease and Stroke Programs. An updated diabetes report, which will include other chronic disease program reports, is expected in November 2010.