Recommending encounters according to the sociodemographic characteristics of patient strata can reduce risks from type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: Physician encounters with patients with type 2 diabetes act as motivation for self-management and lifestyle adjustments that are indispensable for diabetes treatment. We elucidate the sociodemographic sources of variation in encounter usage and the impact of encounter usage on glucose control, which can be used to recommend encounter usage for different sociodemographic strata of patients to reduce risks from Type 2 diabetes.

Data And Methods: We analyzed data from a multi-facility clinic in the Midwestern United States on 2124 patients with type 2 diabetes, from 95 ZIP codes.