News Release
June 20, 2023
Taiwan health care delegation visits Minnesota to learn about diabetes care
A delegation of health officials from Taiwan visited the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) today to learn about Minnesota’s world-leading diabetes care.
During their visit, the delegation met with Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham, toured a Certified Health Care Home clinic and saw presentations about diabetes care from local experts and health care providers.
“We were pleased to learn of this interest in Minnesota’s multi-prong approach to preventing and treating diabetes,” said Commissioner Cunningham. “As a state, we’ve had a multifaceted approach including passing laws to increase insurance coverage, promoting diabetes management and treatments, and certifying and supporting primary care clinics as health care homes. We have also collected data on clinical outcomes and worked to improve the health of our communities by increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity, while also decreasing the harms of commercial tobacco.”
Diabetes is a serious disease on the rise in Minnesota and around the world. About 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year, according to the World Health Organization.
Minnesota stands out for its team-based approach to diabetes care, which focuses on measuring outcomes, coordinating care and providing incentives for clinicians to manage and prevent the worst outcomes of the disease. The delegation representing Taiwan’s national health care system was interested in learning from Minnesota to potentially implement some of the state’s approaches for engaging clinicians and patients in diabetes care and in lowering the costs of complications, particularly those related to end stage renal disease or kidney failure, such as dialysis.
Minnesota is a national leader in diabetes care. The percentage of Minnesota adults living with diabetes is lower than the national average, in 2018 the age-adjusted rate of diabetes was 7.9% in Minnesota (the fifth lowest) compared with 9.8%, the median value across states. Minnesota’s age-adjusted rate for newly diagnosed diabetes was 6.1 per 1,000 adults or the fourth lowest among states. Although Minnesota has the highest participation rate in diabetes self-management education and support programs across the country there is still a lot of work to be done and a need to grow participation in this important program.
“We are pleased to share the success of our Integrated Health Partnership program and its impact on the lives of Minnesotans over the last decade,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “Not only has the program improved the quality of care and lowered costs in Minnesota’s Medicaid program, but it has enabled innovative partnerships between providers, community organizations and DHS that reach beyond clinic walls to support Minnesotans’ health needs.”
The Taiwan delegation’s visit came about after Dr. Kevin Peterson, professor emeritus, University of Minnesota Medical School and the American Diabetes Association vice president of primary care, spoke in Taiwan about Minnesota’s model of providing diabetes care. The Taiwanese delegation learned about Minnesota’s efforts to improve diabetes care during the last 20 years with health reforms and care approaches such as Health Care Homes, the National Diabetes Prevention Program, Statewide Quality Reporting, and Measurement and Integrated Health Partnerships. These efforts focus on helping providers prevent and manage diabetes at the clinic level to keep people healthy and out of hospitals and dialysis centers.
“Minnesotans may be surprised to learn that we have some of the best diabetes care in the world and that other countries are interested in learning from us and duplicating some of the successes we’ve seen through our policies and partnerships with our primary care clinics,” said Dr. Peterson. “We’ve found through research that the best clinics for diabetes care focus on proactive patient outreach, enhancing the patient relationship and pre-visit planning.” In addition, Peterson said, clinics can achieve goals by developing a standard process for diabetes care delivery, promoting quality performance with staff, engaging providers in improvement, and expanding activities of a health care team.
Here are some key components of the Minnesota statewide diabetes care model that were discussed or presented to the delegation.
Health Care Homes is a program where a primary care clinic or clinician gets certified to coordinate care among the primary care team, specialists and community partners to improve total health and well-being. In past years, Certified Health Care Homes performed significantly better on providing optimal diabetes care compared to noncertified clinics. Currently, there are 418 health care homes in Minnesota, and there are health care home clinics in 70 of Minnesota’s 87 counties.
The National Diabetes Prevention Program is an evidence-based lifestyle change program for preventing type 2 diabetes among people with prediabetes or at high risk for type 2 diabetes. The program is offered by many community-based organizations, houses of worship, clinics, employers and others in ways that meet community needs. Because of strong community leadership, Minnesota has the highest per capita participation rate in the nation according to MDH analysis of CDC data.
The Minnesota Statewide Quality Reporting and Measurement System has been a nation-leading effort to have a standardized set of quality measures for health care providers across the state. The system has included an optimal diabetes care measure and public reporting of clinic results since 2010.
The Statewide Health Improvement Partnership supports community-driven solutions to expand opportunities for active living, healthy eating and commercial tobacco-free living, helping all people in Minnesota prevent chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
Integrated Health Partnerships strive to improve the health of Medicaid and MinnesotaCare enrollees and lowering the cost of care through flexible payment arrangements between providers and the state. Minnesota has 28 partnerships that cover about 550,000 beneficiaries, including 47% of all enrollees in Greater Minnesota. Through 2021, the program showed net savings of $444 million.
-MDH-
Media inquiries:
Garry Bowman
MDH Communications
651-529-5164
garry.bowman@state.mn.us