DIABETES: CDC Chooses California Institutions to Participate in Largest Study Ever

      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday named Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland and the University of California-Los Angeles among six sites to conduct a $15 million, five-year national study of diabetes care -- the largest such study ever undertaken. In Northern California, Kaiser will evaluate the impact of specialized programs in such areas as diabetes education, self-care and patient outreach to encourage diabetics to seek appropriate medical attention (Kaiser release, 1/27). The project will focus primarily on diabetics enrolled in managed care plans in order to assess "how treatment and quality care get to the patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds who need it." It will also determine "how much money and resources HMOs put into diabetic care, and how much more they should provide," the Bergen Record reports (Groves, 1/28). The six sites chosen by the CDC are: Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, CA; the University of California-Los Angeles; Pacific Health Research Institute, which includes Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Indiana University; and the University of Michigan (Kaiser release, 1/28).

Studying Diversity
      According to Dr. Frank Vinicor, diabetes specialist at the CDC, one of the primary goals of the research is "to learn if certain monitoring or educational programs can be effective at reducing diabetes for all Americans, regardless of their health insurance or health care provider." The six sites "provide a geographic and ethnic representation of the United States, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Pacific Islanders and whites," Vinicor said (Record, 1/28).