Dec. 22, 2025, 5:11 am ET
ATHENS — An initiative at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Diabetes Institute has made progress in improving diabetes outcomes across Southeast Ohio.
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The Southeastern Ohio Quality Improvement Hub, launched three years ago, is leading a network of clinical and community partners to drive improvements in diabetes care, according to a community announcement.
In 2022, the Ohio Department of Medicaid established regional quality improvement hubs at six Ohio medical schools, including the Heritage College. These hubs work with community partners and health systems to design, test and implement ideas to improve patient care.
The Southeastern Ohio hub has supported more than a dozen primary care practices through quality improvement projects focused on diabetes management, preventive care and social determinants of health.
A regional effort to increase the use of continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, was successful.
A CGM is a small wearable device that tracks glucose levels throughout the day to help people better manage their diabetes. In its pilot phase, CGM prescribing rose from 8% to 57% across participating clinics, contributing to sustained improvements in A1c levels and greater patient engagement in diabetes self-management. Since the start of the project, the percentage of patients with A1c at or above 9 has fallen from 13.1% to 11.2%.
The hub has also strengthened its work as a community connector. Through a partnership with the Southeast Ohio Food Bank, patients experiencing food insecurity are now linked with healthier food options directly at their care sites.
“This work reflects the collective strength of our region,” said Elizabeth Beverly, who leads the Hub as principal investigator and is an Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., endowed professor at the Heritage College. “By bringing together clinics, community partners and patients, we are building a shared foundation for improving diabetes care in southeastern Ohio.”
A variety of strategies
The hub has implemented culturally tailored education materials to strengthen provider and patient understanding of diabetes care. It has also improved comprehensive foot exam rates through targeted quality improvement strategies and has promoted the use of diabetes navigation and education services.
Most recently, the hub launched a Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support Video Series, a collection of short videos designed to give patients and providers quick, practical guidance on core diabetes self-management topics.
“Our partners are making meaningful progress every day,” Sarah Adkins, clinical lead for the QI Hub, said in the announcement. “The QI Hub brings those efforts together, creating the structure, shared learning and data feedback needed to turn local successes into broader regional change.”
With three years of steady growth, strong partnerships and successful projects in place, the Southeastern Ohio Quality Improvement Hub is poised for expansion.
“We anticipate the Hub will have an even bigger impact moving forward as we expand our partnerships, continue our efforts to build a sustainable infrastructure and implement additional projects focused on health improvement,” Beverly said.
This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@usatodayco.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.