Report suggests ways electronic disease registries can improve diabetes care

Electronic patient registries can help health care professionals improve care of diabetes patients, according to a report published today by the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality (Hcheq).

However, the report notes physicians will have difficulty installing such systems without financial assistance and ongoing technical support. The report is based on a roundtable discussion of the nation's leading diabetes registry pioneers held by Hcheq on Nov. 16, 2005. Disease registries are computerized databases that sort patients by level of risk and generate lists of patients needing care.

"The roundtable made clear that enormous benefits can accrue by using a diabetes registry, but there are big questions, such as how to compensate physicians for the time and expense it takes to install a registry, and how to motivate medical offices to radically transform their work flow," explains Georganne Chapin, President and Founder of Hcheq.

Roundtable participants reported that registries have dramatically improved the health status of their diabetes patients. Yet any savings in medical costs generally have flowed to insurers and employers, according to the Hcheq report. "If doctors do not get a fair share of the financial rewards, it will be tough to get them to take on the work and expense required to implement registries," the report warns. The report concludes that pay-for- performance could make registries financially viable.