A Wonderful Resource for Diabetes Education
Thomas Maxwell, M.D., managing partner, Maxwell Group, has practiced medicine in Sun City his entire career. The primary care physicians and other providers in his practice see about 120 patients a day, and diabetes and pre-diabetes are prevalent issues.
Dr. Maxwell’s group refers patients to Sun Health’s Center for Health & Wellbeing’s Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) and Diabetes Prevention Program. The Center is staffed by two registered dietitians, who are certified diabetes educations, and a exercise physiologist, who is also certified wellness coach.
“We refer patients to Sun Health because, quite frankly, other resources for diabetes education are lacking,” Dr. Maxwell says.
“The fact that Sun Health ahs these programs is wonderful. It’s a great resource,” he adds.
Rene Kridler, practice manager at the Center, appreciates the importance of those referrals. “Physician referrals are critical to our programs. Patients trust their physician and will put their trust in us when their doctor recommends out program.” Rene says. “To truly serve our community, we must have physicians on board, working together to educate and shift the current health care model from treatment to prevention.”
Dr. Maxwell spends about 15 minutes with each patient. However, he rarely has time to cover patient education.
“It’s tough because my patients usually are not there for just one issue,” he says. “Almost invariably there are other concerns unrelated to what the appointment was for, so you spend time dealing with those things. It can be a challenge to provide patients with needed education in a limited timeframe.”
He values the patient who takes a proactive approach to his or her health care.
“I am more likely to get the results I want for that patient,” Dr. Maxwell says. “And, I can almost guarantee they will end up taking fewer medications, have fewer complications, have netter test results and just do better. The feedback I get is quite positive. Most feel they glean new information from the Sun Health program, including patients who have been dealing with their diabetes for a long time.”
According to Rene, the follow-up with the physicians is critical.
“The doctor needs to know that a patient has completed a program for the best continuity of care,” she says. “When a patient completes our program the physician can rest assured that their patient will be an informed medical consumer with improved health and compliance.”
Sun City resident Gene Kirkpatrick had been on the edge of being diabetic for many years, and was formally diagnosed after a surgery in 2011. However, like many people he really didn’t understand what that meant.
“I didn’t know a lot about diabetes when I was first diagnosed, he says. “After surgery and recovery, my blood sugars remained high and my doctor put me on Metformin and Januvia, but the levels spiked last summer. I know I needed to find a class to understand what diabetes really is.”
Gene learned about the DSME program at the Center in LiveWell magazine and asked Dr. Maxwell about it. The doctor encouraged him to enroll.
“The class really opened my eyes on how the body processes sugars and insulin,” Gene says. “I realized that when I eat and when I exercise has a big effect on my sugar level. The last time I had my A1C labs drawn, it had lowered 1.5 percent, which is similar to a 60 point reduction in blood sugar. It’s a result of the class and also me really just understanding my diabetes. Overall, it’s going in a positive direction.”
“I would definitely recommend this class,” he adds. “What is really nice is the notebook we get with all of the references in it. I refer to it all the time.”
