Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project

Principal Investigator: Charlanne FitzGerald

The Wisconsin Collaborative Diabetes Quality Improvement Project is a partnership of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and other health systems, the Wisconsin Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, and the UW Population Health Institute. PHI staff members include Charlanne FitzGerald, MPH, Researcher, and a Project Assistant. The project is funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The Collaborative was established in 1998 to implement the Wisconsin Diabetes Mellitus Essential Care Guidelines; share resources, strategies and best practices; and improve diabetes care through quality improvement initiatives. Progress is assessed using Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) Comprehensive Diabetes Care measures and selected measures for cardiovascular care, cancer screening, and asthma care. PHI provides confidential analysis and reporting for each health plan and monitors trends in collective performance over time. The non-competitive atmosphere at quarterly meetings encourages discussion and collaboration for new initiatives. Since the project began, performance on all comprehensive diabetes care measures has improved and variation between plans has decreased. Wisconsin has continued to surpass the national average and has performed comparably with the national 90th percentile for all HEDIS® Comprehensive Diabetes Care measures.

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/health/diabetes/hmo.htm