Why is there a QUERI focused on Diabetes Mellitus?
Diabetes mellitus was selected as a focus for QUERI because Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects nearly 20% of veterans who use the VA health care system or more than 800,000 individuals at any given time. Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness, end stage renal disease, and amputation in the U.S. Up to 80% of patients with diabetes will develop macrovascular disease, such as heart attack and stroke. VA is the largest integrated health care system to provide care to people with diabetes. While there is a growing array of therapeutic options and efficacious treatment strategies to prevent or delay some of the most severe diabetes-related complications and enhance quality of life, there remain significant gaps in the use of these treatments. Consequently, the diabetes QUERI is committed to research and collaborations with key VA and non-VA partners to promote the use of effective care strategies that will decrease the number of patients who experience complications of diabetes and thereby h
