Healthcare Educational and Research Fund (on behalf of the Healthcare Association of New York State)

The Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) represents an important cohort of primary care providers in New York.

Of the 206 hospitals that are part of HANYS, there are more than 160 hospitals with ambulatory clinics that receive more than 11.3 million clinic visits a year. In addition, several of the outpatient departments report that more than 70% of their patient population is covered by Medicaid. In 2008, the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) launched its NYHealth Diabetes Campaign in response to the growing epidemic of diabetes across the State. To advance the Campaign among hospital outpatient clinics, NYHealth made a grant to HANYS to engage its network of outpatient health clinics, and provide them with technical assistance to adopt a new model of care to improve the care and outcomes of patients with diabetes.

Over the next year, HANYS will:

• conduct outreach to all 160 member hospitals with clinics and/or affiliated primary care practices;
• work with an additional 125 clinics and assist 400 providers with the completion of the NCQA Diabetes Recognition Program or BTE Diabetes Care Link; and
• produce an annual report on the prevalence of diabetes cases, diabetes-related admissions, and readmissions among member clinics and practices.

HANYS has been a valuable partner in advancing the goals of the Diabetes Campaign. As of July 2010, HANYS’s efforts have led to a total of 16 clinics and 258 providers receiving recognition by the NCQA or BTE diabetes programs, with 363 physicians continuing to work toward recognition. Through HANYS’s efforts alone, 800 primary care physicians will have achieved NCQA recognition by June 2011 thus advancing the Diabetes Campaign’s goal of 3,000 primary care physician achieving best outcomes for their patients with diabetes.