Medication Adherence Project (MAP): Self-Management Tools for Physicians

Over half a million New Yorkers know they have diabetes and for more than 100,000 of them, poor disease control puts them at risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and amputations. Taking medications as they are prescribed is an important step for controlling diabetes. Health care providers can help patients manage their disease, but few tools are available to clinicians for improving their patients’ adherence. The inability to help patients set and achieve self-management goals as they relate to medication adherence contributes to poor patient outcomes, leaving providers frustrated.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is developing and implementing detailed training and tools to facilitate implementation of self-management support for diabetes patients’ medication adherence in daily practice. Private funding through the Fund for Public Health in New York (FPHNY) allows DOHMH and its partners to develop a clinician’s toolbox and clinical training program, including the formation of a cadre of skilled physician mentors. These mentors will work with their peers on an ongoing basis, conducting formal trainings, providing telephonic support, and fielding questions related to self-management and physician-patient communication. The result of the project should be improved provider-patient communication, an increase in medication adherence for patients with diabetes, and better health outcomes.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2008

Preventing Diabetes-Associated Complications: Know and Control Your ABCS!

To help reduce complications, patients with diabetes should know and control their ABCs. By reaching these goals, a patient with diabetes can lower the risk of cardiovascular events by 50%