“Bill to Expand Access to DSMT Introduced to Congress”
Bill to Expand Access to DSMT Introduced to Congress on May 22, 2018.
On May 10th, Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY) and Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act (HR 5768) to Congress. You may read the full text of the bill here.
HR 5768 will significantly increase Medicare beneficiaries’ access to DSMT services by:
- Expanding access to DSMT services by permitting physicians and qualified non-physician practitioners who are not directly involved in managing an individual’s diabetes to refer them for DSMT services.
- Allowing the initial 10 hours of training during the first year to remain available until used and allowing 6 additional hours of DSMT services during the year in which the initial 10 hours are used.
- Allowing 6 additional hours of DSMT each year after the initial 10 hours are used.
- Removing the restriction related to coverage of DSMT and Medical Nutrition Therapy services furnished on the same day.
- Excluding DMST services from Part B cost-sharing and deductible requirements.
- Revising the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual to allow DSMT services to be furnished in a community-based location.
- Establishing a 2-year demonstration of virtual DSMT, potentially paving the way for future Medicare coverage of virtual DSMT services.
HR 5768 cannot pass without your help! Click here to send a letter to your congressional representative urging them to support and become a co-sponsor of HR 5768.
Take action on HR 5768 today!
Kim Higgins Excellence Award Acceptance Speech by Beverly
It is such an honor to receive the Kim Higgins Excellence award from the CA ADCES Board and Coordinating Body.
I want to thank those who nominated me and the selection committee for their thoughtfulness and hard work. I also want to recognize the other nominees and acknowledge their contributions to diabetes excellence.
I love being a part of this community of diabetes advocates, specialists, educators and coaches. When I attend the CA ADCES Meetings, it feels like a big family reunion, but without all the emotional baggage! Putting on a conference virtual or live is such a huge undertaking and I want to recognize those who generously volunteer many hours to pull off such an awesome event with such relevant and timely topics.
I’m especially honored to receive the Kim Higgins award because of the excellence and passion she brought to the field of diabetes. Kim and I cross paths many times throughout the past 30 years. Both of us were diabetes nurse specialists at Stanford Hospital. we both taught for the groundbreaking program, Becoming an Educator, spearheaded by Mary Sullivan. We both volunteered for the Diabetes Coalition of California and we worked together to promote legislation to enhance sharp disposals for injectable medications. It was after a press conference on sharps legislation where Kim touched my heart the most.
After the conference, we were grabbing lunch and I was sharing with her how I felt I could’ve done better or said something different at the press conference Kim looked me right in the eye, grabbed my hands, and said to me with 100% confidence, “You did great.”
I’ve never forgotten that moment. It was the first time in my career where I truly understood what a mentor could do. A mentor reassures you when you feel that you’re not doing enough or doing it right. And mentor focuses on your strengths while challenging you move forward.
As a recipient of this award, my plan is to carry on Kim‘s legacy of mentoring and helping people achieve their best. Let’s reach out to our colleagues who may be struggling and offer to help with problem solving or just listen and provide encouragement.
Kim was also an energetic explorer. She was so interested in how things worked, how different people saw a situation and focused on making things better. This is a quality I would encourage all of us to embrace. To connect with each other, hear different stories, expand our vision and promote innovations.
Receiving this award has reassured me that I’m on the right path. And I couldn’t have achieved half of what I have achieved on my own.
I need to thank some important people along the way who have lifted me up when I have Felt discouraged or defeated encouraged me to keep moving forward.
Over a span of 20 some years, our incredible team at Feather River Hospital was able to build an ADA Recognized diabetes program, a thriving support group, a Diabetes Prevention Program and host an annual walk to raise funds for our Diabetes scholarship program. We lost our hospital in the Camp Fire, but I still carry the comradery, spirit and love of all the patients and my colleagues in my heart.
I want to thank my special friends Jane and Jony for helping me conceive my company and being on my Board of Directors since the get-go. And Bryanna, my work colleague who has taught me so much about communication and inclusion.
Of course, my wonderful husband who I met at Stanford hospital and married 23 years ago, who has been the backbone and cheerleader for my company and life. When my kids were small he would bring them to conferences so I could breast-feed during the breaks. During all the ups and down he has reassured me, that “You got this.” My two boys Robert and Jackson have been an integral part of my company from creating DiaBingo packets to fulfilling orders.
Lastly, I really want to thank all of you. Providing diabetes care isn’t easy. It’s messy, and there’s bureaucracy and insurance companies and other barriers. But at the end of the day. I want all of you to know what a big difference you are making in people’s lives. Just by hearing their stories, witnessing their pain and successes, and advocating on their behalf, each one of you is making such a huge difference in each person life.
I stand on the shoulders of those trailblazers and change agents who have come before me, including my professional colleagues and my ancestors who crossed continents and made big sacrifices to provide me with so many opportunities.
I am forever grateful, and I humbly accept this very meaningful award.Beverly Thomassian, RN, MPH, CDCES, BC-ADM
Engaging Women in the Fight Against Diabetes
Economics and Diabetes; we know that other factors impact the risk of diabetes and GDM in women. Some of these factors include socioeconomic status and the environment. One in three women in the United States, especially single moms, are living in poverty or are right at the brink of it.
Women of minority racial and ethnic groups are two to four times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have type 2 diabetes. Reproductive-aged women with type 2 diabetes have fewer years of education, have lower income, and are less likely to be employed than women without diabetes.
Can we help stop diabetes before the risk is passed on to future generations?
As women consider the responsibility of bringing a new life into being, they often have a heightened sense of determination to take better care of themselves for the health of their baby. Let’s tap into that motivation and find opportunities early on to promote healthy lifestyle before conception and throughout their lifetime.
Women have the potential to improve the Health Legacy passed on to future generations by being in their best health before, during and after pregnancy.
Health Care Professionals need to send a clear and encouraging message to girls and women that their health matters and that they are important coupled with resources and referrals to help women improve their health status.
Key Messages during different phases of life.
Message to girls and adolescents: Start building healthy habits today.
- Be active everyday. Limit screen time to 2 hours a day, engage in moderate intensity exercise daily.
- Eat healthy. Limit sweet drinks like soda and fruit juices and limit processed foods. See Joy of Six Sugar Pledge Resource Page
- Talk to girls about expected body changes over time. Encourage eating nutritionally balanced meals and snacks. Refer to dietitians and community programs.
Message to Women of Childbearing Age – Get active and eat a healthy diet to nourish your body
- Women’s health and nutritional status BEFORE conception is very critical.
- Regular exercise before conceiving is also important –“Greater total physical activity before or during early pregnancy is significantly associated with lower risk of GDM.”And the magnitude of effect was greatest during prepregnancy = 55% risk reduction in those with highest activity rates.” (ie brisk walk >2 miles).
Message to Women During Pregnancy – Keep active and eat mindfully.
Less than 30% of women gain the recommended weight during pregnancy. Gaining excessive weight increases risk of GDM by 50% along with having a large baby. Encourage eating a healthy, and balanced approach to meal planning.
- Try not to exceed recommended weight gain, keep active, and keep connected to health care team for recommended tests and checkups.
- Refer to community programs and registered dietitians to help women meet lifestyle goals.
Message to Women After pregnancy – There is so much you can do to improve the Health Legacy of you and your child.
- Keep active, eat healthfully, get glucose tested 6-12 weeks after delivery.
Breastfeeding has amazing benefits:
- For children: breastfeeding decreases the risk type 1 and type 2 diabetes and Obesity.
- For mother: breastfeeding decreases the woman’s of future diabetes by 50%. Plus breastfeeding decreases blood pressure, risk of breast cancer and helps with returning to prepregnancy weight.
Health Legacy and Message of Hope: Celebrating and empowering women through improving access to care, education and targeted health messaging promises to improve the health of this generation and generations to come.
For more info, listen to our OnDemand Women and Diabetes Webinar. Learn and Earn CEs from your computer.
Learn more with our May Diabetes Ed Newsletter!
Heart Disease and Women
According to an 2013 article in Diabetologia, despite remarkable improvements in life expectancy and a decline in cardiovascular mortality during the last few decades, cardiovascular disease 
Women with diabetes have double the risk of death from heart disease than men with diabetes.
Women’s health has traditionally focused on sexual and reproductive health. Unfortunately, there is lack of awareness of CVD in women, among both clinicians and women themselves.
Yet we know that as many as six in every ten deaths from CVD are related to modifiable risk factors, even among women. See the nine risk factors that predict CV Disease in Women in the “Interheart Study.”
Key Message – As diabetes educators, we can raise awareness and advocate to treat risk factors and encourage women to take an active role in preventing heart disease through daily lifestyle changes.
Learn more via the May Diabetes Ed Newsletter!
“Frozen Food Fan? As Sales Rise, Studies Show Frozen Produce Is As Healthy As Fresh”
We consistently hear that eating fresh and local food is best.
What if you could purchase equally nutritious fruits and vegetables that would last longer and were a fraction of the price? Studies now show that frozen food can be just as nutritional beneficial as the fresh fruits and vegetables purchased at the local market.
When you freeze fruits and vegetables, it actually locks in the nutrients and can even improve the levels of vitamins retained over time. We are more concerned about waste then ever, buy frozen allows you to avoid having your fruits and veggies spoil before you have the change to use them!
“You can store them in the freezer for a year and the nutrient level pretty much stays the same,” says plant scientist Hazel MacTavish-West, who is a food industry consultant.
A study done at the University of California, Davis, revealed the there was not a significant difference between the nutritional value. Because the fruits and vegetables are typically frozen within hours of being harvested, they had higher levels of vitamins over time.
Helping our community have access to convenient, affordable, but also healthy food is an important part of being diabetes advocates.
To learn more about the nutritional value of frozen food, enjoy this article published in NPR: “Frozen Food Fan? As Sales Rise, Studies Show Frozen Produce Is As Healthy As Fresh”
“Gut microbiome linked to artery health”
Women who have a greater diversity of “healthy” gut bacteria may have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. According to research published in the European Hearth Journal, arterial stiffness was discovered in women with a lower diversity of gut bacteria. Women who had greater microbiome diversity, including bacteria from the Ruminococcaceae family which lowers stiffness in the arteries and also the risk of obesity, were at a lower risk of developing symptoms of cardiovascular disease.
“So, our results reveal the first observation in humans linking the gut microbes and their products to lower arterial stiffness. It is possible that the gut bacteria can be used to detect risk of heart disease and may be altered by diet or drugs to reduce the risk” said Ana M. Valdes, PhD, of the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine and NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Center.
Research concluded that studying the gut microbiome could be beneficial in recognizing risk factors outside of the traditional sect. More importantly that by changing the gut microbiome, there is a possibility to influence arterial health by dietary intervention.
“There is considerable interest in finding ways to increase the diversity of gut microbes for other conditions such as obesity and diabetes,” study author Cristina Menni, PhD, of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, said in the press release.
Research continues to support the importance of a healthy diet and how these trillions of bacterial hitchhikers profoundly influence our health. Learn more: “Gut microbiome linked to artery health” – Healio Gatroenterology
Join us to learn about the exciting advances in our understanding of the pathology of diabetes and novel approaches to prevention with our New Horizons – Gut Bacteria webinar. We will discuss trends in diabetes diagnosis and classification. The role and importance of gut bacteria in the pathology of type 1 and type 2 will explored. A detailed discussion on emerging research and clinical trial on interventions to delay or prevent diabetes is also included.
Level 4 – New Horizons – Getting to the Gut 1.0 CE – $29
Women in Business Upgraded Living – Featuring Beverly Thomassian
This section is dedicated to celebrating Women Business Leaders in Northern California
Interview with Beverly Thomassian
“I think what I’m most proud of is supporting women in pursuing their professional and personal goals,” says Beverly Thomassian, the CEO, President and Founder of Diabetes Education Services. A registered nurse with a master’s degree in public health, Thomassian trains healthcare professionals about the ins and outs of diabetes to help them achieve certification.
Thomassian started Diabetes Education Services 20 years ago when she and her husband first moved to Chico. Though she started out teaching live courses based out of a room in her home office while raising her two children, the diabetes coach has since grown her business to include a female-only team of employees (girl power!), a newsletter that goes out to over 20,000 online subscribers and a two-story office space with a webinar recording studio.
Over the course of the thousands of online courses, live seminars and conferences she has given, Thomassian has gained a reputation for her fun and lively presentation style, including her famous diabetes flash mob. “In all of my classes, we stand up and we dance,” she says, smiling. “But I’m not going it just for fun. I’m doing it to teach them moves to share with their patients.” Serving as a professor at both Chico State and UCSF, Thomassian somehow also find time to keep current on what is going on with people living with diabetes by working one day a week at Feather River Hospital’s inpatient and outpatient diabetes education program.
To those just starting out in business, Thomassian urges, “Give yourself permission to be your authentic self. Because I think so much in business, when we start, we’re nervous, and we want to project a certain image. But I think people don’t really care about that. They want to know who you are and your personality. So, let your authentic self shine.”
See the Upgraded Living May, 2018 Issue here
“Gestational diabetes app helps healthcare workers keep a close eye on pregnant women”
As technology in the health care field continues to develop, there is an influx of health management apps that helps providers and patients collaborate in real time to better manage care using smartphone technology.
Recently, an app was developed in Queensland Australia to help keep new mothers with gestational diabetes and their babies keep healthy. This new app helps the busy pregnant woman track her blood sugar levels and communicate this data directly with their health professionals. The app also tracks meal planning, exercise levels and provides a process to report symptoms of complications to enhance care and improve outcomes.
To learn more about the new app – Gestational diabetes app helps healthcare workers keep a close eye on pregnant women
Diabetes Ed Celebrates Women!
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The medication PocketCards were designed by Coach Beverly Thomassian to assist in clinical practice and exam preparation for Diabetes Educators. Popular with many of our students and their colleagues, the PocketCard is perfect for the educator on the go.
Emily Gibbons– “My coworker just ordered a bunch of these cards for the physicians we work with in the hospital. They are awesome. You guys are the best! I will continue to give you business.”
Discount includes quantity and annual subscriptions through May 18, 2018.
15% off – CDCES® Online Prep Bundle save $60!
Crystal Orozco, RDN, CDCES – “I passed my CDCES exam, what an amazing feeling! A huge thank you to Beverly and her team. I highly recommend Beverly’s CDCES Prep Bundle levels 1, 2, and 3 fundamentals course. Beverly is absolutely amazing.”
Purchase Discounted Bundle- Earn 35 CEs!
Beverly has custom designed this course bundle to prepare you for your CDCES® Exam. Including Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (Boot Camp), you can start studying now with 20 On Demand web courses and tests to build your diabetes education foundation and prepare for the CDCES® Exam.
See what our program graduates are saying. Visit our CDCES Success Page® and get ready to be inspired!
$5 off 2018 ADA Standards of Care Booklet!
The ADA Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes is a key resource for healthcare professionals taking their CDCES or involved in diabetes care, education, and support.
The 150+ page book includes:
- the ADA current clinical practice recommendations
- general treatment goals
- tools to evaluate quality of care
- and much more!
? Purchase Standards of Care for $15 today!
Please make sure to check out our Free Resource Catalog, which includes:
- Medication PocketCards
- 10 Steps to Succeed
- FREE Quizzes by Coach Beverly
- Free CDCES Coach App
- and more!
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