Opportunities and Challenges

Improvements in diabetes management are now being documented in health care settings on a national scale. However, since aspects of diabetes management are not improving at similar rates, overall progress is slow. Moreover, broader, systemic changes in U.S. health care are needed for further improvement.²⁰ Individual efforts by health professionals and patients may have reached maximal impact.²¹

With an increasing rate for type 2 diabetes mellitus cases occurring throughout the world, including 70 percent of new cases of diabetes mellitus in developing countries,²² health system capacities face a challenge. The gradual benefits that have occurred in the management of diabetes mellitus may be reversed as more people require care.²³ Yet, studies indicate that with modest behavioral changes, persons with prediabetes can reduce the likelihood of progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus by approximately 50 percent. These efforts are cost effective since they avoid the chronic care costs associated with the development of diabetes mellitus and thus save money over the long term.¹³ Therefore, additional progress in this focus area will require commitment to primary prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus and improved diabetes management practices.

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