ODS Receives Oregon Diabetes Hero Award

ODS recently received the 2004 Oregon Diabetes Hero Award from the Oregon Diabetes Coalition for its innovative Diabetes Disease Management Program. ODS was nominated for the award by the American Diabetes Association. The Oregon Diabetes Coalition established the Diabetes Hero Awards in 2001 to honor individuals and businesses that have helped improve the lives of Oregonians affected by diabetes.

The ODS Diabetes Disease Management Program is in its fourth year and has been featured at annual meetings of the Disease Management Association of America and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. The program, available to approximately 6,000 ODS members with diabetes, uses a variety of interventions to engage members in proactive self-management of their diabetes.

At relatively low cost, the program has resulted in decreased medical expenses for diabetes and its comorbidities. At the same time, ODS has been able to demonstrate improved quality of care. By using a combination of interactive seminars, customized educational materials, targeted communications and one-on-one coaching by registered nurses, the program enables individuals with diabetes to be directly involved in the management of their care.

Access to integrated medical and pharmacy utilization and cost data has also been essential in the successful development of other ODS disease management programs in heart health, maternity management and self-care of asthma.

The ODS disease management program approach is unique in its ability to transition patients with complex chronic medical issues from the case management program to any one of the patient centered disease management programs. This results in improved health outcomes while controlling medical and pharmacy costs.

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