As part of ongoing work to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes nationwide, AMA collaborates with eight additional states to reach more of the estimated 84 million Americans who unknowingly live with prediabetes

CHICAGO — As National Diabetes Awareness Month gets underway, the American Medical Association (AMA) today announced a multi-state effort aimed at reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes nationwide. Building off of its initial work to prevent new cases of type 2 diabetes in California, Michigan and South Carolina, the AMA is launching similar statewide efforts in eight additional states to help reach more of the 84 million American adults who unknowingly live with prediabetes — the precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Through its collaborations launched last year with medical societies in California, Michigan and South Carolina, the AMA has been working to develop models for preventing type 2 diabetes that can be used in other states across the country. Utilizing best practices learned through these initial collaborations, the AMA will now work with state medical societies in Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island to further develop models to prevent new cases of the disease.

“With 90 percent of the people living with prediabetes in this country unaware they have the condition and at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, we are excited to now be working with eight new states to help reach thousands more patients with prediabetes,” said AMA President David O. Barbe, M.D. “Using what we’ve learned through our ongoing work, we will have more opportunities to get more patients into proven programs that can help prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.”

The models developed through these collaborations will be used to help galvanize more physicians throughout the country to screen their at-risk patients for prediabetes and refer those at high risk to evidenced-based National Diabetes Prevention Programs (National DPPs) that have been shown to cut in half the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes. This is the primary mission of Prevent Diabetes STAT™, a national collaboration between the AMA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched in 2015.

This effort will also help bridge the gap between the clinical care setting and communities to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by connecting more patients to evidence-based lifestyle change programs that are available in their communities, including programs offered where they work, through community and faith-based organizations, and online.

The new collaborations announced today are part of the AMA’s strategic effort at the state level aimed at making the most immediate impact on the nation’s health. The AMA first began working with the medical community in Michigan and has collaborated with leading health systems and business stakeholders, including Henry Ford Macomb Hospital and EPIC. Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, in partnership with EPIC, is piloting a patient registry that could become a national model for enrolling patients with prediabetes into National DPPs and reducing their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“Our team has designed a user-friendly, efficient registry that has the potential to be a valuable tool for addressing the rising prevalence of prediabetes in Michigan and across the country,” said Henry Ford Macomb President and CEO Barbara Rossmann.

The AMA is currently working with more than 45 health systems throughout the U.S. to develop and implement system-wide diabetes prevention strategies.

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve the health of the nation, the AMA will continue to forge new collaborations and support policies aimed at reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes and the staggering burden associated with this public health epidemic.