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by Kirsten Brown
Jay Shubrook, D.O. (’94), associate professor of family
medicine and director of the Diabetes Fellowship, recently
earned recognition from the Diabetes Physician Recognition
Program for providing exemplary care to his diabetic patients.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the National
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) jointly created the
program in an effort to highlight the most diligent doctors in
the field.
To receive this three-year recognition, Shubrook underwent an
audit of patient care charts to determine if he met the
program’s standards for quality diabetes health care. These
standards include attentively administering eye exams, nutrition
therapy, blood pressure tests and maintaining patient
satisfaction.
The Diabetes Recognition Program is one of three programs NCQA
and ADA makes available as a resource for patients seeking
doctors who meet specific qualified standards.
“Our recognition programs contain a set of clinical criteria
that doctors we recognize meet,” Jeff Van Ness, a spokesperson
for NCQA. “It represents a very high bar in terms of quality of
care in diabetes, cardiovascular health and information
up-keep.”
In this way, the program takes a two-facet approach to improving
diabetic health care, Van Ness explains.
“After all, if you’re diabetic, you want to know who’s a good
doctor for diabetes,” he says. “How do you go about finding one?
This is one of the ways for consumers to find where they should
go, while creating an incentive for doctors to keep up the
quality of the care they provide.”
Shubrook chose to apply after discussing with his colleagues the
potential benefits of earning recognition.
“We decided this could be an important accomplishment for the
Diabetes Fellowship,” he says. The Diabetes Fellowship is a
clinical teaching and training program centered about the
treatment and management of diabetes. The fellowship is
sponsored by the Appalachian Rural Health Institute (ARHI) and
its Diabetes/Endocrine Center. ARHI was formed by OU-COM and the
College of Health and Human Services.
“One goal is to see if you’re recognized as providing quality
care that exceeds the national standards for diabetes care,”
says Shubrook.
In fact, he numbers among only 154 diabetes physicians who have
received Recognition in Ohio, says Van Ness.
“Dr. Shubrook deserves a lot of credit for having received
accreditation,” Van Ness adds. “It’s a real boon to his patients
to have a recognized physician caring for them.”
As a patient of Shubrook, Marty Bayha says she feels grateful
for his care.
“I feel very fortunate to have him as my diabetes physician,”
Bayha says.
“I think his recognition from ADA and NCQA are a testament to
his abilities, his research, and his meticulous attention to
detail with regards to my — and his other patients’ — health
care.”
Shubrook’s excellence is apparent through the manner in which he
deals with his patients, Bayha adds.
“Dr. Shubrook has been an extremely caring, informative,
compassionate physician as I deal with my pre-diabetes,” she
says. “He always does a very thorough evaluation, explaining
options regarding my treatment. He makes me feel as though I am
part of a team with regards to my health.”
In addition to the security of finding an excellent physician,
patients also may receive financial benefits, Van Ness says.
“In some cases, it might be that physicians will be given
preferential treatment by the health insurance company,” he
explains, “so you might have a lower co-payment if you are being
seen by a recognized physician.”
For Shubrook, however, the greatest gains lie with what the
recognition may mean for ARHI’s Diabetes Fellowship.
“If you’re identified nationally as someone to go to,” he says.
“it brings us one step closer to gaining national recognition
for the diabetes section of ARHI.”
“The Diabetes Fellowship is the first in the country,” Shubrook
adds. “We are training primary care doctors to become the best
available.”
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