PEOPLE newly diagnosed with diabetes are potentially missing out on care that could make a big difference to the management and outcomes of the condition, according to new Australian research.
The team from the University of Sydney examined the health records of over 12,000 people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and identified a substantial underuse of Medicare-funded services, especially allied health services such as podiatry, dietetics, and diabetes education, within the first two years of diagnosis.
They found that only two-thirds (67.9%) received a GP management plan (GPMP), 61% received a GPMP and team care arrangement, and less than half (45.8%) claimed for at least one allied health service.
In addition, they found that only one-third of the total allied health claims were for essential self-management and lifestyle support services, such as dietitians, diabetes educators and exercise physiologists, which they said highlighted a potential discrepancy between service use and best-practice diabetes management.
Allied health service use was highest for podiatrists (26% with at least one claim) and lowest for diabetes educators (6% with at least one claim).
Women, individuals aged 75 years and older, English-speakers, and those with obesity had higher odds of receiving a GPMP and progressing along the chronic disease management care pathway to allied health service use.
In contrast, people from remote areas had lower odds of accessing allied health services.
The researchers said targeted strategies are needed to improve initiation of care planning by GPs, and to ensure equitable access to government-funded allied health services.
"This study is the first to examine Medicare-funded chronic disease management (CDM) service use among individuals with newly diagnosed diabetes," wrote the researchers in the Australian Journal of Primary Health.
"The results reveal substantial underutilisation of services within the first two years of diagnosis, despite the cohort having established comorbidities that could benefit from multidisciplinary care.
"Understanding where individuals are being lost along the CDM care pathway is necessary to inform policy interventions and strategies to increase allied health service use," they concluded.
Read the research HERE. KB
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