dMeetings and Utah Department of Health Launch Online Diabetes Education Statewide
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
dMeetings and Utah Department of Health Launch Online Diabetes Education Statewide
JACKSONVILLE, FL., April 22, 2019 – Utah Department of Health signs on with dMeetings to deploy its online Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) series to state diabetes patients. “We are really excited to offer this,” says Community Clinical Linkages Coordinator Mckell Drury. “We needed something new and different, and we’re always hearing from our diabetes patients that time and distance is a barrier according to Drury. Utah’s diabetes patients have mentioned not having enough time to attend programming and diabetes educators not having enough time to reach patients. “Some of our patients have to drive 45 minutes to an hour just to get to their educator,” says Drury. The department is confident in how beneficial this pilot will be for Utah’s health coaches and Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE’s). “It will give our health coaches and CDE’s more time to offer specific instruction and this gives their clients more accessible education.”
“We have about 50 programs in the state currently, and we will be rolling the pilot out to three,” says Drury. Utah has selected Uintah Basin Medical Center, a mostly rural hospital, Maple Mountain Pharmacy, and Summit County Health Department to offer the pilot. Summit County is new, and this will be their first program offered. “The programs we’ve selected allow us to apply it to three different angles in three different settings,” says Drury. “This will allow us to understand how online DSMES will benefit various settings across the state. With hopes for positive outcomes, Drury and her team are aiming to expand and offer online DSMES to all of the programs in the state within the next couple of years.
The pilot will deploy during the new grant season beginning in October and they will use two methods to measure performance and success. “We will use the dMeetings model in contrast to the existing models in each program and then compare outcomes.” According to Drury, dMeetings helped her department develop an evaluation process and will work closely with the head of each program to monitor and assist all aspects of program. “The timing is perfect, and we are so glad to incorporate dMeetings into our strategic plan for our diabetes populations,” says Drury. She is hopeful Utah’s patients and educators will have positive outcomes using dMeetings and anticipates providing online DSMES on a larger scale, statewide, within the next couple of years.
dMeetings ignited innovative patient education in 2011 with the launch of online diabetes self-management education and support for patients and providers. Nearly a decade later, dMeetings remains deeply committed to patient education. By producing high-quality online courses, in the broader space of chronic diseases, the company promotes effective instruction for patients to live healthier lifestyles while managing their condition responsibly. dMeetings has championed the online patient education revolution with its easily accessible and economical content offered to organizations at all levels including healthcare payers, providers, departments of health, and employers across the nation.
Brad Bellingrath, dMeetings LLC
(904) 730-8111
bradb@dmeetings.com
www.dmeetings.com