Evaluation of the diabetes health plan to improve diabetes care and prevention.

Investigators from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and members of the leadership and data analysis teams at UnitedHealthcare (UHC) are partnering to evaluate the Diabetes Health Plan (DHP), an innovative disease-specific insurance product designed by UHC specifically for patients with prediabetes or diabetes. The DHP provides improved access to care management, telephone coaching, and enhanced Internet-based communication with enrollees. The evaluation will use a quasi-experimental design, comparing patients from employer groups that offer the DHP with patients from groups that do not, to determine the effect of the DHP on incidence of diabetes, adherence to metformin, and costs of care among patients with prediabetes. Other factors studied will be cardiovascular risk factor control, adherence to preventive services, health care use, and costs of care among patients with existing diabetes.