Physicians Announce New Specialty Referral Guidelines

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 7 a.m. (EST), WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1998

Contact: Ellen Rostand
Phone: 314-982-9133

Physicians Announce New Specialty Referral Guidelines for People with Diabetes

Consensus Conference Takes Aim at Earlier Interventions To Help Prevent the Costly, Often-Life-Threatening Complications Associated with Diabetes

NASHVILLE, Tenn., February 4, 1998 -- New specialty referral guidelines for people with diabetes developed, approved and adopted by a consensus conference of more than 100 practicing primary care and specialty physicians representing private practice, hospital and managed care settings were announced today by Diabetes Treatment Centers of America (DTCA). The purpose of the new guidelines is to provide primary physicians with a set of clinical factors which indicate when referral to a specialist should be considered. The guidelines, the first of their kind to be developed, address 11 different medical specialties including cardiology, nephrology, ophthalmology and neurology.

"The development of these guidelines is the logical next step in advancing the quality of care for people with diabetes," said Robert Stone, Executive Vice President of DTCA. "It is well documented that diabetes consumes a significant portion of the country's health care resources. While standards of care exist to help physicians better manage people with diabetes and new diagnostic and screening guidelines have recently been put forth, these guidelines represent the first significant effort to help physicians identify the clinically appropriate indicators for early intervention of specialists. Adding specialists to the care team at the right time is critical to achieving the objective of preventing or delaying the significant complications associated with diabetes."

The newly-announced guidelines were initially developed by an expert panel of practicing physicians convened by DTCA. Next, their work was reviewed by both DTCA's Scientific Advisory Council and Medical Advisory Council, as well as a group of specialists before being submitted to the consensus conference participants. The work was further reviewed by specialists on the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"The importance of these guidelines cannot be overstated," said Dr. Charles Booras, a primary care physician from Jacksonville, Fla. "All physicians use referral guidelines -- some official, some learned in medical school, some developed from our practice experiences. Generally speaking, these 'traditional' guidelines do not take into account the special needs of the person with diabetes and, therefore, don't always prompt us to the optimal levels of care."

"The development of these guidelines presents a wonderful opportunity for everyone involved in providing health care services to people with diabetes," according to Dr. Howard Lilienfeld, president of the medical staff at Charlton Memorial Hospital (Mass.) and a member of the board of directors of the Harvard-Pilgrim Health Plan. "Widespread adoption of the guidelines will move us much closer to achieving our goal of improved clinical outcomes at reduced cost. The physician benefits, the payer benefits and, most importantly, the patient benefits."

At the conclusion of the consensus conference, participating physicians accepted the charge of disseminating the guidelines in an effort to ensure their use within the health plans, hospitals, health systems and practices they represent, as well as the local and state medical societies in which they are members. DTCA will be working with the major accrediting organizations, payers and national medical groups to support the physicians' local efforts to gain broad recognition and adoption of the guidelines. The guidelines themselves will be reviewed periodically to reflect continuing input from physicians and changes in medical practice and technology.

A subsidiary of American Healthcorp, Inc., DTCA is the nation's leading provider of diabetes services to physicians, hospitals and managed care organizations. DTCA operates hospital-based diabetes treatment centers and programs designed to assist payers in improving the quality of care and reducing the health care costs for individuals with diabetes enrolled in their plans. The company is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

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For a copy of the guidelines, please contact DTCA at 615-665-1133.