Four clinics operated by Fairview Lakes Health Services have been recognized by the Bridges to Excellence (BTE) program for providing diabetes treatment that gives patients better outcomes.

Bridges to Excellence is a pay-for-performance program sponsored by the Buyers Heath Care Action Group (BHCAG), a coalition of 10 public and private health care purchasers including the Carlson Companies, General Electric, Honeywell, 3M, Wells Fargo, the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations. The program was created in 2002 to encourage improvements in care.

Fairview Lakes clinics earning the BTE award for Optimal Diabetes Care were: Fairview Hugo Clinic, Fairview Chisago Lakes Clinic, Fairview North Branch Clinic and Fairview Rush City Clinic. In all, 15 Fairview clinics and two clinics affiliated with Fairview were among 36 clinics in the state that qualified for the award.

BTE is a national organization that encourages physician practices to deliver safer, more effective and efficient care through financial and other incentives. Of more than 600 primary care clinics in the states, 209 clinics applied for the BTE diabetes award. To qualify for the award, participating clinics must publicly post their diabetes outcomes.

At Fairview clinics, 22.8 percent of adult patients with diabetes achieved their goals for diabetes care in 2006 compared to a 2006 state average of 14 percent. Fairview Hugo Clinic achieved 30.3 percent, Fairview North Branch Clinic 24.2, Fairview Rush City Clinic 23.6 and Fairview Chisago Lakes Clinic 20.8. The Diabetes Focus Clinic at Fairview Oxboro Clinic in Bloomington achieved the state’s highest rate for diabetes care at 36 percent of patients reaching treatment goals.

In terms of benefit to patients, Mike Dummer, M.D., Fairview Lakes Health Services, points out that the more that patients with diabetes remain in control, the more eyes, hearts and other organs are saved from irreparable damage and life-threatening injury.