Measuring Adherence to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Diabetes Prevention Guidelines Within Two Healthcare Systems.

ABSTRACT: Measuring adherence to the 2015 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) diabetes prevention guidelines can inform implementation efforts to prevent or delay Type 2 diabetes. A retrospective cohort was used to study patients without a diagnosis of diabetes attributed to primary care clinics within two large healthcare systems in our state to study adherence to the following: (1) screening at-risk patients and (2) referring individuals with confirmed prediabetes to participate in an intensive behavioral counseling intervention, defined as a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Among 461,866 adults attributed to 79 primary care clinics, 45.7% of patients were screened, yet variability at the level of the clinic ranged from 14.5% to 83.2%. Very few patients participated in a CDC-recognized DPP (0.52%; range 0%-3.53%). These findings support the importance of a systematic implementation strategy to specifically target barriers to diabetes prevention screening and referral to treatment.