Overcoming the Barriers for Achieving Standards of Diabetes Care: The Formation of CADRE

Diabetes remains one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Despite significant breakthroughs in treatment of diabetes, recent reports suggest a large number of patients are not at target goals for blood pressure, lipids, and glucose levels. Failure to achieve these goals is most likely not due to the unavailability of drugs and innovations, as numerous drugs have been released over the past 10 years, and monitoring of blood glucose is now considered routine. Therefore, other obstacles must exist at the primary care level preventing adherence to suggested targets. Based on the above, the Council for the Advancement of Diabetes Research and Education (CADRE), a membership organization, was launched in an effort to address the problem of understanding diabetes and its treatment. The ultimate goal of CADRE is to expand understanding of diabetes and its treatment by providing educational programs enabling healthcare professionals to manage and empower patients with diabetes. In particular, by focusing on innovations in diabetes care, CADRE hopes to promote optimal therapy for meeting the treatment goals as outlined by governing bodies such as the American Diabetes Association. This article will focus on the formation of CADRE, and, in particular, identification of the problem contributing to the obstacles of care, and review various surveys conducted by CADRE designed in an effort to identify the problem.