About Diabetes Education

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Physician Resources

Everyday an increasing number of physicians refer their patients with diabetes to diabetes educators.

Why should you do the same?

By referring your patients to a diabetes educator, you will see a number of positive results including improved blood sugar levels, reduced risk of developing complications, weight loss, overall positive behavior change through lifestyle modification, and more. Not to mention the time you will save when you can have a diabetes education expert walk your patients through the basics of diabetes self-management from the start.

Diabetes educators counsel patients on how to incorporate healthy eating and physical activity into their life. They also help patients understand how their medications work, teach them how to monitor their blood glucose to avoid the risk of complications, and give them the ability to problem solve and adjust emotionally to diabetes.

The clinical outcomes resulting from working with a diabetes educator will enhance your patients' health and the success of their diabetes treatment plan.

What is needed for a referral?

Most insurance providers and Medicare require a physician referral. AADE and The American Dietetic Association have developed materials designed to provide information and assist physicians and other qualified non-physician practitioners in making referrals for diabetes services to improve access and education to individuals with diabetes. They include:

Diabetes Services Order Form

This form makes it easy for physicians to refer patients to diabetes educators. 

Background information on the Diabetes Referral Form

This document provides a summary of Medicare medical nutrition therapy (MNT) and diabetes self-management training (DSMT) benefit requirements, as well as information about the development of the form.

Diabetes Education Services:  Reimbursement Tips for Primary Care Practice

How can you get reimbursed for diabetes education?  AADE has developed a guide, Diabetes Education Services: Reimbursement Tips for Primary Care Practice ,  to help primary care physician practice's appropriately bill for diabetes self-managment training (DSMT) and medical nutrition therapy (MNT).  Physician billing involves a range of codes, from commonly used Medicare codes to unique codes used by private payors. The guide covers CPTcodes, HCPCS Level II codes, ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes and review billing for devices and related therapy