Unfinished Work: Partnership Between West Virginia University and West Virginia DPCP

Objective:By establishing and maintaining a partnership the West Virginia University Office of Health Services Research and the WV DPCP have changed the care and outcomes for people with diabetes.  This partnership has been in existence for at 12 years and continues to evolve.

Methods:OHSR and the DPCP share a common mission: to improve patient care and patient outcomes by providing education and using registries to track progress.  The DPCP provides funding for many of the activities conducted by OHSR.  OHSR provides staff, knowledge and resources to teach guidelines and to implement registries at primary care sites throughout WV.  In addition, both partners contribute to the development and deliver of curriculum to providers and staff.

Results:Each year hundreds of continuing education units are awarded to providers throughout the state.  Community Health Centers implement ongoing local quality improvement initiatives.  Services provided to diabetes patients continue to increase, and patient outcomes continue to improve. The number of patients in the registries in WV has grown from about 700 in 2004 to almost 22,000 in March 2009.  And the number of individual registries continues to increase.  In addition, because of the on-going collaboration between OHSR and the DPCP other states across the nation, and other nations around the world benefit from the continuous develop of registry technologies.

Conclusion:The results we are having in WV have been possible because of stable, long term partnership.  Our accomplishments have permitted us to share our successful developments in curriculum and appropriate technologies beyond the borders of our state.