Healthcare Cost for Type 2 diabetes
The National Diabetes
Prevention Program (National DPP) services can prevent or
delay type 2 diabetes for individuals with
prediabetes. The National DPP services include help with
healthy diet, physical activity, and lifestyle
modification. In delaying or
preventing type 2 diabetes, the National DPP services can
reduce healthcare costs.
Reducing healthcare costs is a significant
concern with respect to diabetes. And since
older people incur more healthcare costs, in
general, one recent study looked at the cost of
providing healthcare services to people with type
2 diabetes who were over 65. The CMS version of
the National DPP, called the Medicare Diabetes Prevention
Program, or MDPP, addresses diabetes prevention
for Medicare beneficiaries, the majority
of which are over 65 years of age.
In research conducted in Finland, investigators
looked at "electronic patient records" to find
people over 65 who had been told they had
diabetes. After a selection process, 187 people
with diabetes and 176 people without diabetes were
chosen for the study. Information on how often
primary care was used by the chosen participants
was taken from electronic patient records for a
one-year period.
It was found that, after a year, individuals
with diabetes had more doctor's
appointments, nurse's appointments, lab work done,
and inpatient care at the community hospital than
patients without a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
The older persons with type 2 diabetes who
participated in these healthcare activities paid
more for healthcare. In fact, the CDC
reports that the average person with
diabetes spends $16,750 a year on medical
expenses. That is roughly 2.3 times what someone
without diabetes would spend on medical care.
The National DPP
and the MDPP (to some extent) are public-private
arrangements that offer type 2 diabetes prevention
services in healthcare and community settings. The National DPP and MDPP have been shown to decrease
healthcare cost by delaying or preventing type 2
diabetes. To adequately address diabetes and type
2 diabetes prevention, healthcare providers should
either offer treatment services or refer patients
to community or healthcare organizations offering
the services.
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