Health Care Providers’ Statin Prescriptions Remain Low for Type 2 Diabetic Patients Despite Current Recommendations

Abstract

Statin medications are underutilized in the diabetes type 2 (DMII) population despite the positive outcomes that research has shown. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to increase adherence to the guidelines by the American Diabetes Association and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association regarding the use of statin medication in DMII patients aged 40-75 years. Three primary care providers who practiced in the same organization were provided with an educational session and a clinical decision support tool (CDST). The plan-do-study-act framework was used to aid in the framework of this process. Results: The pre-intervention period showed that only 53.2% of DMII patients aged 40-75 years had a statin prescription on file compared to the post-intervention period, where 85.7% of the target population had a statin prescription on file according to the electronic health records. Conclusion: An educational session along with a CDST tool can be an effective way to increase statin prescriptions in the DMII population.