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Program Overview

The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles offers participation in the Diabetes Ten City Challenge to more than 10,000 employees and dependents who are members of the USC Network Medical Plan, the university’s self-insured health plan known as the USC Network Medical Plan.

Program Location and Pharmacist Providers

1. The program is being implemented at the USC University Park Campus Pharmacy and USC Medical Plaza Pharmacy, both on-campus pharmacies owned and operated by USC School of Pharmacy
2. Eligible individuals register for the program with the pharmacist/administrator, select their preferred campus pharmacy and begin regular visits as soon as possible
3. Program services, which include patient counseling, education, self-management training and medication therapy management, are provided by residency-trained USC clinical pharmacists who are employed by the USC School of Pharmacy
4. Additional resources available to participating patients include a diabetes nurse, a Certified Diabetes Educator, dietitians, lifestyle coaches and an endocrinologist

Program Partners

About the University of Southern California

1. Time Magazine’s “College of the Year 2000”
2. USC is the oldest private research university in the West with a student population of 33,000
3. USC is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles, with over 17,000 employees
4. The central mission of USC is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit
5. The principal means by which USC’s mission is accomplished are teaching, research, artistic creation, professional practice and selected forms of public service

About Los Angeles

Population:      3,694,820
Households:    1,275,412
Total Personal Income: $277 billion

Relevant Statistics

According to the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services:

1. 7 percent of adults (or approximately one-half million) in Los Angeles County have been diagnosed with diabetes, almost three times higher than the Healthy People 2010 target of 2.5%
2. The age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes is higher among African Indians, Latinos and African-Americans and among lower income groups

According to the American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health:

1. 23.6 million people – 7.8 percent of the U.S. population – have diabetes.
2. 17.9 million people have been diagnosed and 5.7 million have not.
3. 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2007.
4. Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2006.

Quotable Quotes

R. Pete Vanderveen, PhD, BCPP, RPh, Dean of the USC School of Pharmacy:
"Participation in the Diabetes Ten City Challenge is a natural progression for USC, since our School of Pharmacy was the first to incorporate clinical training into pharmacy education and has been a leader in developing programs that utilize pharmacists to improve health care and reduce costs. This program allows pharmacists to play a pivotal role with physicians on the health care team to assure that people with diabetes receive the best possible care. This model could transform diabetes and other chronic-disease care nationwide."

Lisa Macchia, Director of USC Health Plans:
"USC has never before implemented a disease-management program because existing models did not meet the needs of our population. The individual coaching approach provided by the Diabetes Ten City Challenge really made sense to us. This unique program gives patients the opportunity to meet personally with pharmacists in order to better manage their diabetes. The support for this program is pervasive, because it promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the patient, with expertise from the USC Keck School of Medicine, most notably the Department of Medicine, division of internal medicine, and the Department of Family Medicine in collaboration with the USC School of Pharmacy."

National Media Contacts:

Caren Kagan Evans
President and CEO
301-309-8487
caren@ecicommunications.com

Local Media Contact:

Kukla Vera
University of Southern California
323-442-3497
kvera@pharmacy.usc.edu