Impact of the Alphabet Strategy on Improving Diabetes Care at a Free Health Clinic.

The complexity and cost of diabetes care are barriers to a free health clinic attempting to provide quality care to uninsured patients. The alphabet strategy intervention was selected to increase the number of patients with diabetes receiving care according to the American Diabetes Association guidelines because it is simple and cost-effective. The project results revealed statistically significant increases in clinic uptake of diabetes education, blood pressure interventions, proteinuria, glucose control measurement and intervention, eye exams, and foot exams.

Reducing 30-Day Readmissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

A quality improvement project to reduce 30-day readmissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is described. A telephone assessment using the Medical Research Council Scale was completed within the first 5 days after discharge in patients with a diagnosis of COPD to evaluate dyspnea level.