Managing Diabetic A1C at a Primary Care Center: A Nurse Practitioner Perspective

• Main Author: McDonald, Jacqueline
• Format: Others
• Published: NSUWorks 2017
• Subjects: Health and environmental sciences; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Electronic medical records; Healthcare providers; Nursing
• Online Access: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/53; https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=hpd_con_stuetd

Background: At a primary care center in Brooklyn, New York, approximately 27% of diabetic patients with abnormal Hgb A1C fail to return for follow-up appointments, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to electronic medical records (EMR), healthcare providers demonstrated inconsistency in ordering and monitoring Hgb A1C and clinic follow-up appointments for patients. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine retrospectively the healthcare providers’ ordering, monitoring, and follow-up appointments for adult diabetic patients with abnormal Hgb A1Cs; to develop and implement astandardized process for healthcare providers to monitor and follow these patients, especially those with possible nonclinic follow-up compliance and abnormal Hgb A1C; to determine prospectively healthcare providers’ ordering, monitoring, and follow-up appointments; and to evaluate the prospective charts to determine if Hgb AIC results changed from abnormal to normal or elevation over time until the next follow-up appointment.