KENTUCKY REGIONAL EXTENSION CENTER

Kentucky Diabetes Learning Collaborative
Award Announcement

UK Healthcare’s Kentucky Regional Extension Center, the Kentucky Department of Public Health, and the Kentucky Diabetes Prevention and Control Program are pleased to announce chosen practices to participate in the year-long Kentucky Diabetes Learning Collaborative (DLC) funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The grant focus is to improve diabetes clinical outcomes.

Selected participants:
• Bluegrass Internal Medicine – Owensboro, Kentucky
• Grace Health – Corbin, Kentucky
• HMH Primary Care – Cynthiana, Kentucky
• Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance (Little Flower Clinic) – Hazard, Kentucky
• Monroe County Medical Center – Tompkinsville, KY
• Owensboro Health – Owensboro, Kentucky
• Shawnee Christian Healthcare – Louisville, Kentucky

These practices represent over 19 health care locations, 73 health care providers, and over 6,000 adult patients with diabetes.

The goal of the Diabetes Learning Collaborative is to assist health care organizations in making “breakthrough” increases in the adoption and use of clinical systems and care practices to improve health outcomes in people with diabetes.

Targeted clinical outcomes will include improvement in glycemic and blood pressure control. Targeted clinical system changes will include clinical decision support within the electronic health record (EHR) for Diabetes Self-management Education and Support (DSMES) referral, the establishment of bi-directional referral processes with DSMES providers, and other evidence-based care practices. Clinical participants will track referrals for DSMES, A1C and blood pressure values, and other clinical measures selected by participating practices.

The structure for this collaborative learning will be based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Series. At the heart of this approach are three models. The Learning Model makes participating practices part of a network of experts and fellow-learners. The Chronic Care Model, (developed by Ed Wagner MD, MPH, and former Director of the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation), outlines all the elements of good chronic care. The Model for Improvement enables teams to rapidly test and implement changes to improve care.

Starting in May 2021, participants will join in conference calls, in person meetings, peer site visits, hands on technical assistance, and webinars with experts and other organizations in the collaborative.

Please join us in congratulating these practices for being selected to participate in this innovative project to improve the health of Kentucky residents.