Do group visits lower HbA1c levels?
Anecdotes abound about how effective group visits are. Marty Levine, MD, chief of geriatrics at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle cites two examples from the group visit program that he organized for seniors and a variety of other populations: • A hard-working, aggressive lawyer with diabetes who started with an HbA1c level of 9.8 and dropped to 6.1 after joining a group has maintained that level for two years. • An elderly woman who had chronic headaches but wouldn’t listen to her doctor about increasing her exercise found a walking buddy in one of her group visits—and the pain disappeared. Examples like these are plentiful, as are accounts of satisfied patients and doctors who say the group visit format is more efficient, effective and humane. Yet research on medical gains from group visits has yielded mixed results. Published studies have shown that group visits for seniors result in fewer ER visits and less hospitalization—and higher patient satisfaction—but not necessarily a cha
