Timings for HbA_1c testing in people with diabetes are associated with incentive payments: an analysis of UK primary care data.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Guidelines recommend testing HbA_1c every 3-6 months in people with diabetes. In the United Kingdom (UK), primary care clinics are financially incentivized to monitor HbA_1c at least annually and report proportions of patients meeting targets on 31 March. We explored the hypothesis that this reporting deadline may be associated with over-frequent or delayed HbA_1c testing.

Methods

This analysis used HbA_1c results from 100 000 people with diabetes during 2005-2014 in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink UK primary care database. Logistic regression was used to explore whether the four months prior to the deadline for quality reporting (December to March) or individual's previous HbA_1c were aligned with retesting HbA<

SUBMITTER: Hirst JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6519368 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature