University at Albany Foundation/Center for Excellence in Aging & Community Wellness

Strong evidence has emerged in support of strategies to prevent diabetes. Specifically, the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) was identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an effective, evidence-based public health program that can help participants with prediabetes reduce their risk of developing the disease by 50%.

Building demand—at both the consumer and the physician levels—is crucial to NDPP sustainability. The Center for Excellence in Aging and Community Wellness (CEACW) operates the New York State Quality & Technical Assistance Center (QTAC), which replicates and disseminates evidence-based health and wellness and disease prevention programs throughout New York State. NYHealth awarded CEACW a grant to equip QTAC in providing technical assistance to 20 health care provider organizations across the State to help them offer the NDPP, connect people to it, and sustain the program in the long run.

Under this grant, QTAC targeted direct service providers from a pool of partners, including four regional health care provider organizations, two rural health networks, and five hospitals. Specifically, QTAC offered technical assistance to help providers improve identification of prediabetes among patients and made appropriate referrals. QTAC also supported lifestyle coaches offering the NDPP within each organization, trained coaches, and offered strategies to ensure successful program implementation and patient retention. To monitor and evaluate the programs, QTAC made tools and templates available to share updates on patient performance with primary care providers, documented outcomes, and maintained CDC program recognition. To help secure NDPP sustainability, QTAC provided templates for pay-for-performance models and contract language, as well as provided examples of business models used to ensure sustainability of the program.