DSME/T Program Accreditation
Executive Summary
AADE's New Accreditation Program for Diabetes Self-Management Education/Training
Diabetes self-management education/training is a critical part of patients’ success with diabetes. However, programs that teach patients about behavior change strategies and self-management techniques have traditionally been limited to hospital-based or affiliated settings.
Because of the rising number of people with diabetes in the United States and the increased demands they place on the healthcare system, diabetes education programs are beginning to emerge in a variety of settings—from community centers to local pharmacies to physician offices. By expanding the delivery options for DSME/T, these new or developing settings are making diabetes education more accessible to more patients.
Acknowledging and encouraging the continuation of this trend, AADE has applied to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to become an approved DSME/T Program Accreditation Organization in order to promote and recognize quality patient care in these settings. Currently AADE’s application for CMS accreditation has been accepted; we anticipate full approval in early 2009.
Of the nearly 24 million Americans who have diabetes, approximately 85 percent report that they turn to their primary care provider for their diabetes care. This means that an increasing number of physicians have begun or will begin offering DSME/T in their practices or contracting with local diabetes educators.
By becoming a CMS accrediting body for DSME/T, AADE is striving to provide caregivers such as physician offices, clinics, pharmacies and community centers with a way to ensure that they are offering their patients comprehensive, effective diabetes self-management education and to achieve recognition for their efforts. Additionally, AADE is seeking to facilitate new practice settings and opportunities for diabetes educators.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation demonstrates to the public that a DSME/T program meets accepted standards for providing quality services. Third-party payers often look for this designation when determining reimbursement. As an example, accreditation is necessary to obtain Medicare reimbursement for DSMT.
Why AADE accreditation?
As an AADE-accredited program, settings that offer DSME/T will have access to the structure and tools needed to enhance their offerings and increase recognition for their program.
For settings that are implementing a DSME/T program, AADE accreditation provides guidance for meeting practice standards, such as HEDIS quality measures, and offers tools that can improve patient outcomes and meet the needs of the growing diabetes population and assist practitioners such as diabetes educators, physicians and pharmacists with their performance improvement efforts
AADE accreditation is flexible, as it enables programs to easily accredit multiple sites with one application and an all-inclusive fee. For example, several physician offices could decide to share the services of one diabetes education team -- each office would have the opportunity to be accredited as a DSME/T provider with a single application.
AADE-accredited programs have access to:
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An AADE DSME/T curriculum that facilitates behavior change, leading to improved clinical outcomes. AADE accreditation provides diabetes education programs with a written curriculum specifically tailored to their practice setting. The curriculum is based on the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors framework and current evidence and practice guidelines. It promotes behavior change strategies as critical to patients’ success with diabetes, and it supplies criteria for evaluating patient outcomes.
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Tracking tools for patients’ self-management goals. AADE accreditation offers free tools that allow the diabetes education program to track and report their patients’ behavior change and clinical indicators. The tools can easily interface with existing disease management software and electronic health record systems or can be used independently.
In short, AADE accreditation informs patients, prospective patients, and payers that the practice offers quality, comprehensive diabetes education and care.
Click here for additional information and to view the program accreditation application.
Since 1973, the American Association of Diabetes Educators has been committed to ensuring diabetes patients have access to DSME/T, which provides knowledge and skill training, helps patients identify barriers, and facilitates problem-solving and coping skills to achieve effective self-care behavior and behavior change.