The long-term goal is to develop a practical and sustainable system of diabetes management that will help low income patients achieve and maintain goals within established treatment guidelines regardless of geographic location. This randomized clinical trial will employ the innovative FORA system, an inexpensive, off-the-shelf, state-of-the-art technology comprised of a 2-in-1 Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure monitor, coupled with nurse case management (TACM) to optimize diabetes care for low income, rural adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The target population will be low income patients served in Federally Qualified Health Care Centers (FQHCs) with poorly controlled T2DM residing in coastal South Carolina. Two hundred patients will be randomly assigned to two groups of 100 patients each; Group A (Usual Care) and Group B (Technology-assisted Case Management, TACM). Each patient will be followed for 6 months, with study visits at baseline, 3, and 6 months. The primary outcome will be Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at 6 months post-randomization while the secondary outcomes will be blood pressure control and quality of life (qol) at 6 months post-randomization.
The purpose of this study is to help low income patients achieve and maintain better self-management skills and improve blood sugar levels, using a 2-in-1 blood glucose and blood pressure monitoring system and nurse case management. Patients must be served at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in coastal South Carolina.