Reframing the question for research
Dr. Alonso, seeing the value of this program, didn’t stop there. He enlisted the help of researchers at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center and the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation to design a formal research study to see if the use of A1C testing machines in primary care offices improved blood sugar control in patients on a broader scale.
The study looked at 10,909 patients with diabetes who had a primary care visit between January 2021 and December 2023. Of those, more than 3,000 patients had at least one visit where the A1C office test was used. The patients who had been tested in the office were matched, based on age and health conditions, with the same number of patients who didn’t get the test. Then researchers compared the level of their diabetes control.
Results showed little difference for patients with controlled diabetes, but for patients with uncontrolled diabetes (A1C of 8% or greater), there was a significant 0.7% reduction in A1C within 3 months.
“What this told us was that it may be best to target patients with a history of higher blood sugar levels than all people with diabetes,” said Dr. Alonso.
Published findings prompt wider expansion
The study was published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in January 2025.
Since the study findings became available in January, there has been a steady expansion of the program to new locations in Southern California, such as San Diego, and into specialty clinics such as optometry, where a patient might seek care related to conditions resulting from their diabetes.
Dr. Alonso said he believes the work will improve the future health of patients with diabetes.
“It’s been great to be able to work with patients and improve their life by hopefully preventing complications of diabetes,” Dr. Alonso said. “And it’s great to work in an organization like Kaiser Permanente where something like this — something so impactful — can be done.”
