A recently published issue of Modern Medicine focusing on diabetes care in physician practices pays attention to the use of Health Network Information Systems (HNIS). In one of the articles prof. dr. G.E.H.M. Rutten discusses the way general practitioners and nurse practitioners are able to successfully prevent cardiovascular diseases in the diabetic patient.

A study shows that that risks of heart and blood vessel diseases are significantly reduced for patients suffering from diabetes mellitus type 2, when the physician practices implement the ‘Diabetes Care Protocol’. It is shown that cardiovascular risks decline from 25,8 to 23 percent within one year due to significant improvement of risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol. Also, a randomized study concludes that the Diabetes Care Protocol is doing well compared to regular care.

The Diabetes Care Protocol was initially developed by Diagnosis4Health. Currently the protocol is entirely supported by Vital for Diabetes, a solution of VitalHealth Software that facilitates multidisciplinary care managed by the general practitioner, applying a systematic approach to all relevant risk factors. A major benefit of the solution is the ability to cooperate and communicate with multiple caregivers within a care network and the availability of decision support in the same solution.

In his article Rutten concludes that by using this software, ‘prevention for heart- and blood vessel disorders is possible with a multifactor approach for large populations of diabetic patients in Dutch physician practices.’