UPMC like other health systems faces a number of challenges in providing quality diabetes care.

In 2000, with a diabetes epidemic and escalating costs, UPMC leadership recognized the need to take a systems approach for improvements in diabetes care.

Some of our challenges included

Servicing a large population across PA

We knew that 30% of our UPMC hospital admissions have a diabetes-related diagnosis

And other problems included poor adherence to guidelines, lack of integrated tech, poor reimbursement leading to lay off of nurse staff during budget cuts and a need to connect with the people in the communities that we served