Guthrie HealthWorks Diabetes Education Service Receives Recognition

The Guthrie HealthWorks diabetes self-management education service in Painted Post has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The ADA Education Recognition effort is a voluntary process which assures that education services have met national standards of quality. Services that achieve recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management for participants.

Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment and assuring high-quality education for participants is one of the primary goals of HealthWorks’ diabetes program. The participant in an ADA-recognized service will be taught skills that will promote better management of his or her diabetes treatment regimen. Some topics may include: diabetes disease process, nutritional management, physical activity, medications, monitoring, preventing, detecting, and treating acute and chronic complications and more.

“Guthrie HealthWorks Diabetes Education provides diabetic patients with the information they need to choose healthier foods, incorporate daily exercise and manage medication to stay healthy and prevent complications,” said Alia Snyder, Diabetes Educator at Guthrie HealthWorks, “We are honored to be recognized for these efforts and will continue to support patients as they learn how to effectively control their diabetes.”

Unnecessary hospital admissions and some of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes may be prevented through self-management education. Additionally, improved A1C is another important outcome to measure. A1C is a blood test for type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. It measures a patient’s average blood sugar level over the past 3 months. In July 2020, the HealthWorks diabetes program released information touting a 1.2% improvement in average A1C for their participants over a six-month time frame. This is contrasted against patients with diabetes who did not attend diabetes education and, on average, improved their A1C by only 0.04%.

Guthrie is a non-profit integrated health system located in north central Pennsylvania and upstate New York, serving patients from a twelve-county service area. Guthrie is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network and is the first health system based in Pennsylvania and New York to join this network. Guthrie is comprised of a research institute, home care/hospice, hospitals in Sayre, Pa., Corning, N.Y., Towanda, Pa., Troy, Pa. and Cortland, N.Y., as well as a multi-specialty group practice of more than 325 physicians and 210 advanced practice providers offering 47 specialties through a regional office network providing primary and specialty care in 22 communities in Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, Guthrie offers home medical equipment and respiratory therapy products at seven convenient Med Supply Depot locations. Guthrie provides a wide range of services and programs to enhance the health and well-being of those it serves.