The Diabetes Ten City Challenge

According to the American Diabetes Association, every 21 seconds another American is diagnosed with diabetes, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The U.S. spends over $174 billion a year on diabetes measured in the direct and indirect costs of emergency room visits, expensive and extended hospitalizations, disability insurance costs, absenteeism and lost worker productivity.

In an effort to make diabetes care a national priority, in 2005 the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation announced the Diabetes Ten City Challenge, an innovative employer-based diabetes self-management program sponsored by the Foundation, with support from GlaxoSmithKline.

Through the DTCC, employers provide employees, dependents and retirees with diabetes a voluntary health benefit, waive the co-pays for diabetes medications and supplies and help people manage their diabetes with the help of a specially-trained pharmacist "coach".

Today, 31 employers and hundreds of local pharmacists in ten cities are working together to help more than 1,000 employees, dependents and retirees manage their diabetes through the DTCC collaborative-care model.

An interim report on the Diabetes Ten City Challenge, published in the March/April 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, documents clinical improvements in all of the recognized standards for diabetes care, including decreases in A1c, LDL cholesterol and blood pressure; and increases in flu vaccinations and foot and eye exams. The report also shows significant increases in patient satisfaction with diabetes care and in the number of participants with self-management goals for nutrition, exercise and weight.

The results to date show that the DTCC's collaborative-care model is effective for managing diabetes and also show that when patients are supported and empowered to make the lifestyle changes necessary to manage a chronic disease, significant improvements are possible.

The future of health care lies in empowering individuals to take charge of their health and providing the tools and support they need to self-manage chronic diseases. We are proud of the leadership role the APhA Foundation has taken to help achieve this goal and invite you to come inside to learn more.