IACNY Receives National Diabetes Care Recognition

03 Aug 2011

Internist Associates of Central New York has been granted recognition through the Diabetes Recognition Program of the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the American Diabetes Association.

The Diabetes Recognition Program was designed to improve the quality of care that patients with diabetes receive by recognizing clinicians who deliver quality diabetes care, and by motivating other clinicians to document and -improve their delivery of diabetes care. To receive recognition, which is valid for three years, Internist Associates submitted data that demonstrates performance that meets the Program's key diabetes care measures. These measures include eye exams, blood pressure tests, nutrition therapy and patient satisfaction, among others. When people with diabetes receive quality care as outlined by these measures, they are less likely to suffer complications such as heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations.

"For a person with diabetes, the right clinician can make the difference between living with diabetes as opposed to Suffering from diabetes," said Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, President, Medicine & Science, American Diabetes Association. "Clinicians who earn recognition through the Diabetes Recognition Program have an established track record of providing excellent diabetes care"

Diabetes is a serious disease that affects the body's ability to produce or respond properly to insulin, a hormone that allows blood sugar to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. An estimated 16 million Americans have diabetes; it is the sixth-leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. and it has no cure.

The Internist Associates diabetes care team includes an endocrinologist, on-site certified diabetes educator, podiatrist, laboratory and offsite dietician. They are also actively involved in diabetes research where patients can participate in cutting-edge treatments right in the office.