Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), including pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, have been prescribed for a number of years as monotherapy or combination therapy for glycemic control of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It has been hypothesized that the clinical advantages offered by TZDs compared with other...

An international literature search was conducted to identify studies published since 1995 examining the effects of diabetes self-management education (DSME) in community settings. Of the 24 publications identified, eight were examined to provide a discussion of intervention methods, the use by...

Chronic disease and collaboration (people The aim of this article is to outline four approaches to collaboration - epidemiologically focused collaborations, research-based consortiums, organizational-change collaborations, and patient-focused disease management strategies - currently employed to...

The objective of this study was to develop, and subsequently test, a Bayesian discrimination model for the purpose of identifying both the personal and the healthcare system characteristics predictive of hospitalisation for the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus or commonly observed...

Prevention and long term disease management have been added relatively recently as `new' components of a modern day total healthcare services system. The goal of primary prevention, which includes medical preventive services, lifestyle interventions and screening services, is to maintain a...

This article describes 3 approaches to improving diabetes care in a health maintenance organisation (HMO) setting. The first approach was to identify which patients had not received a dilated eye examination in the past year, notify both them and their physician, and provide each with...

Repaglinide (Prandin(R), NovoNorm(R), GlucoNorm(R)), an oral insulin secretagogue, was the first meglitinide analogue to become available for use in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The drug lowers postprandial glucose excursions by targeting early-phase insulin release, an effect thought...

In this article, we provide a practical and systematic framework to evaluate the cost effectiveness of health plans Research data indicate that cost effectiveness varies by clinical domain. Blood pressure control, use of aspirin, and influenza and pneumococcal immunizations are cost saving in...