New Analysis Finds Major Gaps in Access to Diabetes Educators in New York

New York State Health Foundation: New Analysis Finds Major Gaps in Access to Diabetes Educators in New York

The New York State Health Foundation’s Diabetes Policy Center, in collaboration with the Center for Health Workforce Studies, today released the initial findings of a study that examined the state of the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) workforce and revealed an unusually small and unequally distributed CDE presence across New York State.

The initial findings of the study showed that there are only 1,000 CDEs in New York State and more than two-thirds (68%) of those CDEs only provide diabetes education services to patients part-time—fewer than 25 hours per week. The analysis also found that CDEs are predominantly located in urban areas, and that many rural areas have few or no CDEs at all. Finally, the study found that although diabetes disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities more than whites, 90% of the State’s CDEs are white and less than 17% speak a language other than English.

“These findings are very troubling,” said Deborah Zahn, Director of the Diabetes Policy Center. “The 1.8 million New Yorkers who have diabetes need access to diabetes education to help them manage their disease and avoid costly and life-threatening complications.”

“This study showed that, relative to the magnitude of the diabetes crisis in New York, the number of CDEs available to service them is small,” said Jean Moore, Center for Health Workforce Studies. “Yet we know that CDEs play a vital role in helping people with diabetes live longer, healthier lives.”

“New York State Medicaid has made a commitment to reimbursing for CDE services because we know they improve patient outcomes,” said Dr. James Figge, Medical Director, New York State Department of Health’s Office of Health Insurance Programs. “This study gives us the information we need to continue to improve access to diabetes services.”

“Access to diabetes self-management services is essential for New Yorkers with diabetes,” said Maureen Spence, Program Director, New York State Department of Health’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program. “This study helps us understand the gaps in access to these critical services so that we can work together to fill them.”

The Policy Center expects to release a full set of recommendations for bolstering access to diabetes education and self-management services in spring 2010.

The prevalence of diabetes in New York State has doubled since 1994, and that number continues to rise. In an effort to stem this growing epidemic, the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) launched the Diabetes Policy Center to promote policies that will sustain high-quality clinical care and health environments statewide. Through its five-year, $35 million New York State Diabetes Campaign, NYSHealth is committed to reversing the diabetes epidemic currently plaguing the State and to significantly improving the health of New Yorkers with diabetes.

Full policy brief here. (A Market Analysis of Certified Diabetes Educators in New York: Initial Findings, January 2010)

Files: 

NYSDC_CDE Brief Final.pdf