Collaboration with Joslin to Enhance Diabetes Care
To expand care and enhance education for patients with diabetes or at risk for diabetes, BWH and Joslin Diabetes Center began a collaboration in March that enables BWH care providers and leaders the opportunity to design, develop and implement new comprehensive clinical diabetes programs.
“Joslin is among the world’s finest institutions focused solely on diabetes care, education and inspired research that translates into improved patient care outcomes,” said Joseph Loscalzo, MD, PhD, BWH chair of the Department of Medicine.
Nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population has or may soon develop diabetes. Among subsets of BWH patients, the proportion of patients with diabetes is much higher, sometimes reaching more than 30 percent. “This public health challenge creates an imperative for us to advance our outreach and diabetes patient care programs,” Loscalzo said.
BWH already has been providing excellent diabetes care to patients through BWH primary care physicians, the BWH Diabetes Management Service and the faculty of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension. The Joslin collaboration will help providers develop and implement new programs.
The collaboration with Joslin will be led by Dale Adler, MD, executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine, Ursula Kaiser, MD, chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, Bindu Chamarthi, MD, a BWH endocrinologist with particular expertise in treating diabetic patients with cardiovascular involvement in the Shapiro Watkins Clinic, and David McCready, executive administrator of the Department of Medicine. Initially focused on cardiovascular outpatients, the program is expected to expand to reach primary care physicians and beyond in time.