Community Partnership

Taking On Diabetes - Kansas City, MO

Kansas City-area health plans participated in a Collaborative on diabetes based on the IHI Breakthrough Series Model to be held in Kansas City. The AAHP Foundation received funding in support of this special project from the Prime Health Foundation and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Program for Improving Chronic Illness Care. The AAHP Foundation is the not-for-profit research and education arm of the American Association of Health Plans, now America's Health Insurance Plans.

The Breakthrough Series is a process developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and designed to foster innovation in health care delivery systems. It focuses on managing the care of a population, promoting the use of evidence-based medicine, delivering care in the right setting, and conducting screening, early intervention, and secondary prevention. All of these are hallmarks of managed care.

In the Kansas City Breakthrough Series, health plans participated in three two-day learning sessions that alternated with "action periods" during which participants applied what they learned to their respective organizations. This tested methodology has been embraced by health systems of all sizes (health plans, hospitals, group practices, and integrated delivery systems) and holds tremendous potential for helping Greater Kansas City-area health plans make significant improvements in diabetes screening and care.

In 2002, the two health plans that had implemented electronic registries through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Breakthrough Series continued using these systems to improve care for their patients with diabetes. The Aetna Inc./ University of Kansas Family Practice team continued to use the database that they created in 2001. The UnitedHealthcare/ Truman Medical Center team doubled the size of their registry in 2002 by joining a diabetes collaborative with MissouriPRO (Missouri Peer Review Organization) during the summer 2002. The registry at that time included information for over 100 patients.

Taking on Diabetes
601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
South Building, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 778-3281
takingondiabetes@ahip.org