Type 1 Diabetes presents unusual symptoms, such as frequent urination, extreme hunger, unexplained weight loss and extreme fatigue. Type 2 Diabetes presents Type 1 symptoms plus others — frequent infections, blurred vision, and cuts and bruises that are slow to heal. Type 2 diabetes can also be asymptomatic.
This woman has no symptoms, so her diabetes will progress if it’s left untreated. She’s looking at a possible heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney disease or lower limb amputation.
She has Type 2 Diabetes,
but doesn’t know it
(Type 2 Diabetes doesn’t always have symptoms)
7% of all employees nationwide are diagnosed with diabetes, accounting for 17% of all employer healthcare costs (28 diabetic employees costs your company $535,024 annually). Approximately 95% of all people who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes — the pancreas either produces insufficient insulin or the body’s cells don’t use it.
ADA guidelines for the screening and diagnosis of diabetes have changed recently, so OnSite Health anticipates that the number of employees diagnosed with diabetes will increase. This makes detecting employees who are pre-diabetic even more important to control your healthcare costs, working with your employees to prevent the onset of diabetes and its complications.
New American Diabetes Association guidelines for diabetes testing - Hemoglobin A1c levels:
- 6.5 and over — diagnosis of diabetes
- 5.7-6.4 — high risk of diabetes
- 5.6 and under — non-diabetic
Living with diabetes
We can also help prevent serious complications
with the following:
- Supporting employee compliance with insulin therapy, other injectable medications or oral medications
- Providing lifestyle recommendations on meal planning, exercise and weight loss
- Helping employees improve their oral hygiene and health (diabetics have a higher incidence of periodontal disease)
OnSite Health nurse practitioners test for diabetes as part of our initial health assessment of your employees. We use a simple blood test to measure each employee’s hemoglobin A1c level. Employees with A1c levels of 6.5 or over are diagnosed as diabetic and we can help them with their ongoing need to maintain healthy blood glucose levels.
Diabetes is a common disease that requires highly individualized therapies and lifestyle modifications. We can teach your employees how to monitor their blood glucose levels, feel better and be more productive while living with diabetes.
Lower A1c levels — lower risk of heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease
Diabetes can’t be cured, but it can be managed. Compliance — with medications and lifestyle modifications — is the key to living with diabetes. Once your employees have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes or Type 2 diabetes, they must learn to adapt. Here again, OnSite Health nurse practitioners offer critical monitoring and support for your employees’ efforts to maintain healthy blood glucose levels, eat better, exercise more and lose weight. We can test hemoglobin A1c levels on a regular basis, to help employees avoid the extremes of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.
Like high blood pressure, diabetes requires regular monitoring and review of compliance with medications, weight management and lifestyle changes. Our workplace healthcare model supports compliance with the convenience of being onsite, as well as reducing the time employees have to spend in the emergency room or hospital.
New test guidelines are likely to increase the number of employees
diagnosed as diabetic or prediabetic (we can treat prediabetics
to help prevent them from developing the disease or complications).
A 10% improvement in diabetic care saves a company
with 400 employees approximately $55,000 annually
Better management of this chronic condition offers documented savings. We’d be pleased to review these savings with you in greater detail, while comparing our costs with the projected reimbursements of Medicare and insurance-allowed reimbursement.