INEQUITIES ARE ENDEMIC TO THE US HEALTHCARE SYSTEM AND SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT OUR PATIENTS LIVING WITH DIABETES. IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE

In order to address diabetes disparities, we must first recognize that poor outcomes for people with diabetes in the US on a population level do not reflect patient “non-compliance” but rather system failure when fewer than 40% of US adults living with diabetes are able to achieve A1c goals and more are considered “poorly controlled” (A1c > 9%). We understand the important role primary care professionals (PCPs) play in the lives of individuals with diabetes, particularly in underserved communities. The Project ECHO Model® is a proven tele-mentoring model that is designed to explicitly target PCPs, address health disparities, and improve patient outcomes. The model is also replacing traditional forms of continuing medical education and revolutionizing the approach to addressing diabetes disparities in the primary care setting. The ECHO Model is scaling in the US and globally, but implementation for diabetes is lagging. There is an urgent need to expand diabetes-related ECHOs for PCPs across the country with a strategic focus on addressing diabetes disparities. Since its inception in 2003, the ECHO model has grown to involve more than 70 specialty conditions hosted by over 1,100 hubs across the globe that have drawn over 5 million ECHO session attendees but attendance in diabetes-related ECHO programming was less than 1% of total programming in 2022.