PrimeCare among Maine’s first to be recognized for excellence in diabetes care
March 06, 2007

PrimeCare Physician Associates received the distinct honor of being Maine’s first primary care practice to receive recognition for excellence from The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the American Diabetes Association. Only two other physicians in the state, both diabetes specialists, received similar recognition.

The NCQA is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. It accredits, certifies and recognizes a wide range of health care organizations and physician groups nationwide.

“This is a significant honor,” says Merle Westbrook, nurse practitioner, who together with Nate Wilson, MD, played an integral role in establishing PrimeCare’s innovative diabetes program. “We’ve worked very hard over the past five years as part of the Diabetes Task Force (a joint effort coordinated through NovaHealth, an affiliation of PrimeCare and InterMed in Portland) developing a diabetes program that gives our patients all the tools they need to proactively manage their diabetes.”

There are more than 14 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes with an estimated six million more who are unaware they have the disease. This disturbing national trend motivated PrimeCare’s health care team to aggressively pursue improvement in diabetes care. The PrimeCare efforts recognized by the NCQA included:

The Touch Every Life® web-based chronic care registry that blends physician care with web-based tools to help diabetes patients and their caregivers track and improve care. This patient registry closely monitors the progress made by patients with diabetes by tracking their weight, blood pressure, medications, cholesterol, triglyscerides, HDLs and other factors -- all available confidentially to specified caregivers online; and

The Diabetes Self-Management Groups, a new model of care designed to empower those with diabetes to better manage their disease.

“If we’re going to make headway against diabetes, we need innovative thinking to provide our patients with all the tools available to fight this disease,” notes Dr. Wilson. “PrimeCare sees more than 2,000 patients with diabetes, which reflects the growing national problem. Diabetes is an epidemic in the U.S. We take the challenge of managing this disease very seriously.”

“This recognition offers an independent confirmation that PrimeCare offers state-of-the-art diabetes care focused on the needs of the patient,” adds Mike Albaum, MD, PrimeCare’s medical director. “By measuring ourselves against the latest research, treatment options and disease management techniques at health care organizations across the U.S., we can ensure that our patients are getting the best care.”