[Analysis on the impact of the introduction of a quality management plan of the diabetes care process in a Health Area of Galicia (Spain)]

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the impact of a management plan for the diabetes process on the level of control of HbA1c and the rate of hypoglycaemia.

Material and methods: The Health Area had a catchment population of 446,603. An anti-diabetic drug prescription (29,705 patients) was used to select diabetic patients. The variables recorded were: percentage of patients with HbA1c <8% and the hypoglycaemia rate before and after implementation of the quality program.

Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 11.8%, with 71.3% of them receiving some pharmacological treatment. In the year 2016, in the Integrated Health Area of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 59.6% (95% CI: 57.9% -61.2%) of the patients had an HbA1c of less than 8%. After the implementation of the quality program, there was an increase in the number of controlled patients, reaching 63.6% (IRQ: 16.0%) in 2017, and 63.8% (95% CI: 62.5% - 65.2%) in 2018. The annual rate of hypoglycaemia increased non-significantly from 2.8 (95% CI: 2.22-3.35) in 2016, to 2.94 (95% CI: 2.35-2.35) in 2017 (P=.083), and 3.0 (95% CI: 2.44-3.56) in 2018 (P=.399).

Conclusions: The implementation of the diabetes process management program enabled the level of control of HbA1c to be improved, as well as increase the percentage of patients who undergo regular check-ups, without increasing hypoglycaemia.

Keywords: Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Gestión por procesos; Management plan; Resultados; Results.