‘Outcomes for the better’

With new recognition from the American Diabetes Association as of Friday, Dec. 9, Melissa Memorial Hospital can continue its one-on-one care of patients with diabetes – and this time, be reimbursed by insurance. While grant funding may be “great,” Population Health Nurse Tamara Laws explained, the ability to bill for care is the factor that truly “keeps positions like mine open.”

For a patient with diabetes, Laws said, their pancreas – an organ that creates juices to break down food – is unable to regulate sugars within the blood. The pancreas normally produces a hormone called insulin for this purpose. If left untreated, diabetes may lead to organ damage, skin and mouth conditions, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Barring the ability to reliably produce insulin, a patient can regulate their blood sugar via diet, exercise and injections of the hormone. If they so choose, patients also can check their progress electronically through a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, attached beneath the skin of their arm or belly.

A recognized program, according to Laws, meets certain standards of medical care; one of the most important, she continued, involves “being specific to a population.” In Holyoke’s case, this often translates to providing instructional materials for those with Spanish-speaking backgrounds.

Many rural hospitals, Laws said, only have one person available for diabetes education. Melissa Memorial provides two: herself and Julie Levy, a registered dietician whom Laws noted the hospital was “lucky to have.” A patient with diabetes, according to Clinic Manager Jayden Miracle, can enter the diabetes program through talking with a primary care provider. Both Levy and Laws then help the patient organize a care plan and manage the disease.

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