"I know I’m not going to be able to resolve my diabetes or cure it, so I’ve got to learn to live with what I’ve got. My education is always ongoing."

‒ Laura
Brooklyn, OH

Did You Know?

Having the flu can be dangerous for anyone. But it is extra risky for people with diabetes or other chronic health problems. If you have diabetes, get a flu shot!

In the News

Greater Cleveland diabetes patients show improvements in treating the disease, but insurance cuts threaten progress

Harlan Spector

The Plain Dealer - June 25, 2009

Greater Cleveland diabetes patients are showing health improvements in areas such as blood sugar control, but the gains are threatened by a growing number of people losing insurance coverage. A nonprofit collaborative called Better Health Greater Cleveland began examining medical records of more than 25,000 diabetes patients in 2007. The program is the first large-scale effort locally to report on how patients and their doctors are managing the chronic disease.
Read full story.

Harvard economist: Getting health care coverage for most people is pretty easy

Mary Vanac

MedCityNews.com - June 25, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio – It’s not difficult to get most Americans health-care coverage. If you make it accessible and affordable most people will buy it, says Harvard University economics professor David Cutler.

How do you make health care affordable? Remove some of the inefficiencies of delivering and coordinating medical care, which drive up its cost and drive down its quality, Cutler told an audience of health care providers, administrators and advocates Thursday at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

The audience was assembled to hear about Better Health Greater Cleveland’s third community checkup report — an assessment of the non-profit organization’s progress toward collecting and analyzing care quality measures of how 361 primary care physicians in Northeast Ohio managed the health of their 25,724 diabetic patients.

Read the full story.

Better Health Director receives Saltzman Award

The MetroHealth System News Release - June 15, 2009

Better Health Director Randall Cebul, MD, a MetroHealth internal medicine physician and director of the Case Western Reserve University Center for Health Care Research and Policy at MetroHealth, was presented with the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation’s prestigious Maurice Saltzman Award for 2009. Dr. Cebul was recognized at the Foundation’s annual meeting on June 15 for his efforts in establishing and leading Better Health Greater Cleveland, a community-wide collaboration of those who get care, give care and pay for care that is dedicated to improving the health and value of health care for people in Northeast Ohio with chronic medical conditions.

The Hon.Dan A. Polster, chair of the award selection committee, said the award has become one of the most prestigious honors in Cleveland, which made the selection process both a privilege and a challenge. “As director of the Better Health Greater Cleveland initiative, Dr. Cebul has brought together community-wide stakeholders from all facets of the health care industry to address chronic illnesses in a manner never before attempted,” said Polster. “Because of his leadership, Greater Cleveland now has the infrastructure necessary to change the quality of care and reduce the economic and personal burden of chronic disease. His uncompromising drive for high-quality care and measurable outcomes has helped his colleagues move the needle toward better care and better outcomes for 25,000 patients currently served by this initiative.”

Dr. Cebul said he was “tremendously honored and thankful to the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation,” but the award was “not about me.” He said it was about themes that are playing out nationally in the dialogue about health care reform, including improving access to care for those who are disadvantaged, improving health outcomes and reducing costs of care for those with chronic conditions, and about the intelligent use of health information technology to monitor, coordinate and improve care. But mostly, he said, it was about building effective partnerships of leaders in primary care across the region.

The award was established in 1983 to honor the late Maurice Saltzman, who was involved in human service causes for more than 30 years and demonstrated a special interest in health, medicine and collaboration.

Doctors, patients doing better at managing diabetes

Harlan Spector

The Plain Dealer - January 27, 2009

Better Health Greater Cleveland, a health-quality group that began examining care for Cleveland-area diabetes patients in 2007, says in its latest report that doctors and patients are doing slightly better at managing the chronic disease. Read the full story.

Diabetes treatment in Cleveland better, but still needs improvement

Shannon Mortland

Crain's Cleveland Business - January 27, 2009

While local health care providers have made progress in treating some patients with diabetes, they still have a long way to go, according to the latest report from Better Health Greater Cleveland. Read the full story.

Managing Your Health: Diabetes

Maureen Kyle

- November 19, 2008

read the story

Doctors grapple with question of just how low your LDL cholesterol should be

Harlan Spector

The Plain Dealer - October 21, 2008

People who conscientiously have watched their cholesterol know the goal line keeps moving. Read the full story.

Quality Reporting to Improve Chronic Disease Care in Greater Cleveland

GreaterCleveland.localhealth.info

www.clevelandhealth.info - September 2, 2008

The Better Health Greater Cleveland website provides specific information for patients and providers on improving the quality of chronic disease care. A major innovation in transparency and collaboration, performance data from participating practice groups are published in Community Health Checkup reports available on the web site. Read the full story.

Fighting the Diabetes Epidemic

The Foundation for Healthy Communities of the Ohio Hospital Association. Healthy Communities webpage

Healthy Communities Webpage - July/August 2008

Better Health Greater Cleveland stresses the importance of this project’s focus on the diabetes epidemic in Cuyahoga County, where more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and an additional 30,000 have diabetes, but don’t know yet. This ambitious project will mean a better quality of life, fewer missed work days and fewer unnecessary hospitalizations for avoidable complications. Read the full story.

Welcoming a New Medical Measuring Stick to Greater Cleveland

The Plain Dealer - June 18, 2008

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