The challenge
The VDH wanted to reach prediabetic Virginians via a targeted health promotion campaign with the following goals:
- Educate: 90% of prediabetic Virginians do not know they have the condition.4 Most people with prediabetes do not get screened regularly and lack the diagnosis and knowledge to treat the disease. Raising awareness and early diagnosis are essential, as people who are aware of their condition can implement lifestyle changes to help slow or reverse prediabetes.
- Engage: 70% of individuals with prediabetes will develop diabetes in their lifetime.5 Increasing enrollment of priority populations in the NDPP can lower diabetes risk. Treatment programs for prediabetes are comparatively low cost, long-term and noninvasive, being focused on sustainable lifestyle and behavior change. The NDPP is an evidence-based lifestyle change intervention that deploys a CDC-approved curriculum, lifestyle coach and support group network.6
The Labcorp clinical data advantage
The VDH wanted to contact patients with HbA1C numbers in the prediabetes zone in order to intervene before patients became diabetic and risked worse health outcomes.
Three key aspects made Labcorp uniquely suited to inform and engage vulnerable patients with prediabetes:
- Standardized clinical data
- Efficient patient communications, including email
- A considerable presence in the state of Virginia, comprising 56 patient service centers that service nearly 213,000 Virginians every month
Labcorp maintains diagnostic results from more than 50% of patients in the U.S., making it a data partner well positioned to help tackle large public health challenges. As the only lab network with metrics nationally standardized across the U.S., Labcorp quickly and efficiently identified patients with elevated blood glucose levels.
Using its database of contactable patients in Virginia who met VDH criteria, Labcorp helped the VDH email educational content and support materials to 156,000 prediabetic Virginians.
“Labcorp has been an integral partner in the Medicaid Beneficiary Enrollment Project with the Virginia Department of Health," says Jennie Dinh, acting diabetes supervisor for the VDH. "The use of lab data and identification of patients with prediabetes has increased referrals into the National Diabetes Prevention Program dramatically.”
Results
This program generated the following impacts:
- Raised awareness: The campaign was part of a national effort to improve access to and awareness of diabetes self-management education. In total, nearly 50,000 Virginians read the prediabetes patient education materials. 60% of email recipients clicked through to a Labcorp website featuring the CDC Prediabetes Risk Assessment.
- Generated increased enrollment: The VDH saw a 20-fold increase in enrollment in the NDPP from 2021, with nearly 2,000 patients engaging in prediabetes screening activities. Ultimately, this saved an estimated $408,000 in direct medical expenses and indirect costs for Virginians most vulnerable to this disease.7