The CMSA Diabetes Program

The Team Approach to Diabetes Treatment

At CMSA we use the team approach to diabetes treatment. This approach is employed at most specialized diabetes clinics. The diabetes team is comprised of the patient, the CMSA Diabetes Team (specialist doctor, the diabetes nurses, dietitians, nurse practitioners & physician assistants, and often psychologists) and importantly the patient’s own primary care doctor.

Diabetes is a disease that requires attention 24/7. The PATIENT is ultimately responsible. We cannot make you, the patient, do anything that you don’t want to do – all we can do is give you advice. And we “cannot go home with you” – you must take care of things, 24/7.

When you come here for specialty diabetes care, you are not just coming to see the doctors, you will be treated by the full CMSA DIABETES TEAM. The responsibility of the CMSA Diabetes Team is to give you, the patient, advice and skills to live well with diabetes. Within the team different members have different expertise to help you with this 24/7 responsibility. At each visit you will therefore see one or more different team members, based on what you or we think you need at that time. The diabetes doctor may not always be included, but the whole CMSA Diabetes Team is always behind you.

We are living in the middle of a diabetes epidemic. We strive to help as many patients with diabetes as we can and to do so we ask each patient's PRIMARY DOCTOR to help as much as possible. If you are doing well, we may ask you to come in to see us even just once a year, and to work with your primary doctor in the meantime. However, in that case we will suggest to you and your doctor what to check to make sure you stay on track AND we will always be glad to hear from you or your doctor any time, if you or your doctor have concerns.? To contact us for a problem click here.

The “Yearly Visit”

Once a year, or so, you will hear us talking about a “yearly visit”. This will typically be comprised of actually two visits close together (sometimes even on the same day), the first with a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, and the second with the doctor, dietitian and diabetes nurse. At these yearly visits we strive to reassess your situation almost as if you were new to us, and we go down a checklist of things to pay attention to, much like the Personal Diabetes Record that we have made available to you.

What to bring to all your visits:

• all your testing equipment
• your results log book
• any new medications from another doctor
• food - in case you are delayed in the office or have car trouble
• hand carry your referral, if you need one for your insurance
  

Patient Information

Knowledge is power, and we pride ourselves on teaching our patients as much as possible about their illnesses, to enable them to live well despite their health problems.