Improving diabetes prescribing in primary care

In New Zealand there are significant inequities in prescribing for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in primary care. Pinnacle is partnering with Waikato University, Hauraki and ProCare PHOs to explore the health system factors that may contribute to this.

This three-year project is funded by the Health Research Council, led by Associate Professor Lynne Chepulis and involving our own Dr Jo Scott Jones and Dr Rebekah Doran. The project is designed to:

• evaluate and characterise the current rates of prescribing for diabetes (and to determine where inequities in prescribing exist), before
• co-designing a primary-care led intervention to reduce prescribing inequity.

The first step in this process is for the research team to comprehensively review primary care data for patients with type 2 diabetes who have been enrolled with our practices since February 2021 (when the new diabetes agent empagliflozin was funded).

The goal is to compare prescribing practices of diabetes, cardiovascular and renal medications to relevant clinical guidelines. This will use and report on aggregated data only (at practice level), and individual GPs and clinical staff will not be critiqued or reported on.

What do we want from you?

The Pinnacle Digital Governance Group has approved this request in principle, and we are able to supply your practice data to the researchers. Nothing further is required on your part, unless you want to OPT OUT of this study.

If you DO NOT want your practice data to form part of this study, please notify us by emailing data@pinnacle.health.nz before 8 April 2022.

If you have any questions about the study please contact Associate Professor Lynne Chepulis or Dr Jo Scott Jones.