A cohort study of the impact of a national disease management program on HEDIS diabetes outcomes.

Diabetes disease management programs (DDMP) are proliferating, but their overall impact in improving quality of care using Health Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality metrics has not been well studied. Furthermore, DDMPs are usually ongoing, but the incremental benefits of continuing the program beyond the initial patient educational intervention have not been rigorously tested. This study evaluates the impact of length of DDMP participation on diabetes-related HEDIS 2002 quality indicators across 20 health plans.