In recognition that stakeholders may require support to implement this quality measurement set, Avalere and Endocrine Society have published an implementation guide  for use by healthcare providers interested in using the measures in their quality initiatives. Providers can use this guide to engage directly with data registries or electronic health record vendors to ensure that the data needed to assess performance are validly and reliably captured. Once medical centers, health systems, and practices begin using these quality measures, the Society and Avalere will gather lessons learned and real world experience to further refine them for broader adoption in the future.

“The implementation guide gives interested stakeholders the information that they need to facilitate integration of the measures into a registry. It is the first step to supporting adoption of these measures to monitor and control hypoglycemia.” – Kristi Mitchell, Practice Director, Center for Healthcare Transformation, Avalere

“Hypoglycemia in the elderly with diabetes is a major problem in healthcare, and we need better data to help understand where and when it occurs.  Use of this guide by providers and plans will help providers to implement quality improvement efforts in the outpatient clinical setting.  The methods for performance measurement are presented in clear and practical terms to help document and inform the management of hypoglycemia in the real-world setting.” –James Rosenzweig, MD, Endocrinologist and Consultant, Hebrew SeniorLife, and lead author of the performance measures

The effort to develop these measures is part of a broader national quality improvement effort, the Hypoglycemia Prevention Initiative, which was launched by the Endocrine Society and Avalere in 2017.  This initiative includes a study evaluating risk screening and use of clinical decision support tools to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia in older patients with type 2 diabetes through individualized goal setting in primary care practices, the results of which are anticipated in Fall 2020.

The Hypoglycemia Prevention Initiative is supported by Merck & Co., Inc.; Lilly USA, LLC; Novo Nordisk, Inc.; Sanofi; and Abbott Diabetes Care, Inc.

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