Six health plans including Blue Plus, HealthPartners, Hennepin Health Medica, South Country Health Alliance, and UCare–launched the Diabetes Performance Improvement Project in the spring of 2021. Interventions include working with care coordinators, providers, and partners to improve comprehensive diabetes care, with a particular focus on reducing health disparities.

Resources

Control Your Diabetes for Life Toolkit
After initial diagnosis, people with diabetes receive diabetes education from a Certified Diabetes Educator. Alongside this education, many receive basic self-care and self-management guidance from other health care professionals.
This Minnesota Department of Health toolkit is designed for anyone willing to guide a patient through the material. This includes health care providers, educators, case managers, coaches, community health workers, interpreters, patient advocates, and family members.
The toolkit includes instructional sheets on self-care topics, a patient action plan for setting goals, and a one-page self-care checklist.
More information >
Download the toolkit >

Upcoming webinars

TBA

Recorded webinars

Diabetes and Skin Care
Thursday, June 22, 2023
This webinar is for individuals and clinicians who work with people with diabetes. The discussion will include what good management of diabetes looks like in consideration of skin health and neuropathy. It will focus on preventative care and best practices in diabetes and skin care management, awareness of the contributing impact of other co-morbid diseases, and when and whom to contact for care professional referrals.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Oral Health Considerations for People with Diabetes
Monday, April 24, 2023
This webinar focuses on oral health considerations for people with diabetes, including clinical and management factors such as systemic impacts of hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia, considerations during dental appointments, periodontal health, oral side effects of medications, and oral hygiene and dietary recommendations.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Meeting the Challenges of Diabetes: Working with Non-English Speakers with Diabetes
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
A diagnosis of diabetes can be overwhelming. When you don’t speak the primary language of the health care system, it can be especially daunting to learn about your condition and understand all the recommended steps patients should take to stay healthy. This webinar will review the basics of working with interpreters, how language and cultural differences impact care, create misunderstandings, and jeopardize appropriate follow-through, and common points where misunderstandings can happen. Community Health Workers and Care Coordinators can play a valuable role in reducing these barriers and the presenters will share tips from their years of experience working directly with people with diverse languages and cultures.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Meeting the Challenges of Diabetes: Transforming Food Shelves to Meet Client Needs with SuperShelf
Tuesday, September 20, 2022,
Minnesota’s SuperShelf partnership is helping to increase access to healthy, appealing, and culturally-connected foods across the state. Learn how food shelves are transforming to meet the food needs and improve the experience of people who are food insecure in Minnesota. This presentation includes an overview of the SuperShelf Evaluation Study (NIH) results, including the Statewide Food Shelf survey, a unique data set with direct insight from people served by food shelves throughout the state.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Implicit Bias & the Pursuit of Health Equity
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Implicit bias occurs on an unconscious level. Research suggests that implicit biases affect behaviors more than explicit biases. Research also points to the positive correlation between implicit bias and health disparities. Rooted in psychological theory, research, and practice, this webinar focuses on developing a deeper understanding of implicit bias, how it is formed, and its impact on health disparities. In addition to increasing awareness of the relationship between implicit bias and health disparities, evidence-based approaches to decreasing implicit bias are presented.
Recording >
More information >
Resources from the presentation
Putting Interventions Into Actions Decreasing Implicit Bias

Food is Medicine – Integrating Effective Nutrition Interventions into the Healthcare System: A Concept Whose Time Has Come
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
About 1 in 10 Minnesotan households struggle with food insecurity, with higher rates reported during the pandemic. Black, Latinx, Native Americans, and people living in rural and lower-income counties suffer the most significant disparities in access to quality nutrition. They are more likely to suffer diet-related chronic diseases, including heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, and diabetes. Attend this first webinar in a series for clinicians, public health, and managed care organization (MCO) leaders focused on food insecurity as a social determinant of health and contributor to chronic disease prevention and management. Learn how health care clinicians and systems are finding new clinical and community interventions to improve patient’s access to quality nutrition and education.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >
Resources from the presentation
Food is Medicine: Minnesota Food Assistance
Food is Medicine: Resources for Care Providers
Food is Medicine: Resources for Policy & Decision Makers
Food is Medicine: Resources for Researchers
Integrating Food Assistance into Health Care Resources for Health Systems

Meeting the Challenges of Diabetes: Consequences of Disease Progression
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
This presentation aims to provide information on care coordinators, case managers, and other professionals working with Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) and Special Needs Basic Care (SNBC) members to understand the impact of diabetes better and enhance their skillsets when working with members with diabetes.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

The Challenges of Achieving Optimal Diabetes Results: Barriers, Disparities, and Strategies for Care Coordination Success
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
The presentation series aims to provide care coordinators, case managers, and other professionals working with Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) and Special Needs Basic Care (SNBC) members information to understand the impact of diabetes better and enhance their skillsets when working with members with diabetes.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >
Care Coordination Resources for Working with Individuals with Diabetes >

Meeting the Challenges of Diabetes: Updates with the Pharmacists
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
This training is the second in a series to help care coordinators/case managers better understand diabetes, its impact on people living with diabetes, and how to best support members to best manage their condition. This training aims to ensure that care professionals working with MSHO and SNBC members have a good understanding of the work of pharmacists in relation to diabetes care, its impact, and to begin to enhance their skill set for working with members with diabetes.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Meeting the Challenges of Diabetes: Core Basics
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
This training is the first of a series of activities during this project to help care coordinators/case managers better understand diabetes, its impact on people living with diabetes, and how best to support members to best manage their condition. This training will give care coordinators, case managers, and other professionals working with Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) and Special Needs Basic Care (SNBC) members to understand the impact of diabetes and enhance their skill set when working with members with diabetes.
Recording >
More information >
Presentation slide handout >

Health Plan Performance Improvement Projects (PIPs)

Minnesota health plans that offer publicly subsidized health care programs implement performance improvement projects (PIP) to help improve public program members’ health and reduce disparities for low-income Minnesotans. The projects have covered a wide range of health topics identified as priorities for improvement, including preventive care, chronic illnesses management, and transitions in care.
Projects with resources currently available:

Contact information

For more information on how your organization and Stratis Health can work together, please contact Karla Weng, senior program manager, 952-853-8570, or Nicole Gackstetter, program manager, 952-853-8512.