Changing diabetes® barometer: A global quality monitoring framework for improving patient outcomes

This article has a global perspective and includes examples from several continents i.e. Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. The Changing Diabetes® Barometer (CDB) is a Novo Nordisk initiative that works as a worldwide quality monitoring system for diabetes management to measure the gains made in the fight against diabetes focusing on quality of care and patient outcomes. CDB provides a platform for countries to share local diabetes data and good practices. In doing so it aims to disseminate improved practices of care. CDB is conceptualised as a framework that can help change diabetes. Its three cornerstones are “Measure, Share, Improve” (MSI): • MEASURE the quality of diabetes care through patient outcomes and care processes. • SHARE data on the quality of diabetes care and good practices with all relevant stakeholders. • IMPROVE the quality of diabetes care by identifying and actively spreading good practices in diabetes care and inspire others to adopt and follow best practice examples. Italy and Algeria both constitute best practice examples of CDB initiatives. In Italy a registry solution is already solidly implemented and improvements in patient outcomes have been documented. The initiative in Algeria has recently been initiated including establishment of IT equipment in participating clinics to ensure all relevant measurements. This will enable transparency on current level of quality of diabetes care. Both initiatives have the common goal of driving improvements in quality of care and patient outcomes across clinics. India is another good example where data is collected through the CDB aimed at driving improvement of diabetes care in order to improve quality of life for people with diabetes. CDB in India is implemented in five states (Goa, Bihar, Gujarat, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh) and is planned to be expanded to five additional states.