Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) have been recognised as being critical in the federal government’s upcoming budget and its steps toward a "blended healthcare model" to address an outdated Medicare system suspected of "costing lives".
The recognition by the federal health minister comes as the Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) ramps up its campaigns for more strategic investments to combat the disease.
In a recent
ABC Australia interview about
strengthening Medicare,
Mark Butler MP spoke about the rise of chronic diseases, the sector’s workforce shortage, and creating a more holistic healthcare model.
CDEs were one of the professions cited as being part of the government’s goal of designing a system to allow health professionals to work "seamlessly as a team".
"If you're a diabetes patient with chronic type 2 diabetes, yes, you want your care led by a GP, but you often want the different services you get coordinated by the local practice nurse who you know very well," Mr Butler said.
"Work by diabetes educators, perhaps an exercise physiologist."
The federal government has committed to delivering a $750 million package in the May budget to reform Medicare.
ADEA has always recognised the importance of CDEs in leading and advocating for best practice, person-centered diabetes education and care.
This includes advocating for more support to increase CDEs to ensure those with diabetes or prediabetes can have the best chances of receiving specialised care and treatment.
In
our pre-budge submission, we want to see three strategic investments: remuneration for diabetes health professionals to support optimal use of diabetes management technologies, additional CDE visits for the population at increased risk of diabetes-related complications, and CDE visits for people with gestational diabetes to prevent complications and lessen the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Mr Butler said the government wanted to ensure "we're using every health care professional, not just our GPs, in the most effective way, using the fullest extent of their skills and training".
"The [strengthening Medicare] taskforce does talk a lot about that blended health care model ... It's having sort of teams under one roof with doctors, nurses, and other allied health professionals all working together to care for patients with chronic conditions," he said.
In an interview with 3AW earlier this month, he said "yes, I suspect it is" when asked if problems with the current Medicare system are costing lives.
"What doctors and nurses and allied health professionals and most importantly patient groups on that taskforce told me is they need something different than what was sort of behind the design of Medicare in the 1980s," he said.
"They need more wrap-around care that’s not delivered just by a doctor but if you’ve got diabetes, have a diabetes educator in there."
Now that the health minister has recognised the critical roles of CDEs, the government needs to boost its support for a CDE workforce increase and for policy solutions that incentivise referrals to CDEs to help ensure more robust and preventive care.
These steps will help patients and alleviate pressures on the wider health system.