QOF may not have developed diabetes care

Fri, 29 May 2009
The quality and outcomes framework may not be directly improving GP management of diabetes, according to recent research. In fact, in some instances, the framework may even lower levels of diabetes care .

A research team from the University of Birmingham and University College London investigated diabetes management in primary care . The research was published in the British Medical Journal.

The researchers reportedly commented: "The management of people with diabetes in the UK has improved since the late 1990s. The relation between incentives and attainment of targets may not, however, be as straightforward as initial reports suggest. Pay for performance may have contributed to the improvement in diabetes care but the relative importance of the quality and outcomes framework to other national quality improvement strategies is unclear,’ the paper says.

However, the inclusion process was criticised: "The scheme in its present form fails to capture almost one third of people in whom care may be suboptimal and may even lead to reduced levels of care for some groups of patients."

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