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Before 2011 rates of hospitalization for heart attacks were about the same in San Diego County as they were in the rest of California. In 2011 a multistakeholder population health collaborative consisting of partners at the federal, state, and local levels launched Be There San Diego. The collaborative's goal was to reduce cardiovascular events through the spread of best practices aimed at improving control of hypertension, lipid levels, and blood sugar and through patient and medical community activation. Using hospital discharge data for the period 2007-16, we compared acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalization rates in San Diego County and the rest of the state before and after the demonstration project started. AMI hospitalization rates decreased by 22 percent in San Diego County versus 8 percent in the rest of the state, with an estimated 3,826 AMI hospitalizations avoided and $86 million in savings in San Diego. Results show that a science-based health collaborative can improve outcomes while lowering costs, and efforts are under way to ensure the collaborative's sustainability.

Introduction: Since 2003, Kaiser Permanente (KP) has implemented innovative cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk-reduction clinical practices in Northern and Southern California that emphasize the use of cardioprotective medications—aspirin, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and statins—in individuals at very high risk of experiencing heart attacks and strokes. Because an internal KP retrospective analysis demonstrated decreased morbidity and mortality among KP patients with diabetes, there is significant value in implementing this strategy in the broader community population, particularly in safety-net clinics serving the uninsured. Methods: To implement this risk-reduction clinical practice in the community, clinical and programmatic sections of KP had to connect with a set of community partners that share a similar approach of evidence-based prevention. Successful implementation required a well-planned and coordinated collaboration between KP and the community entities that allowed for and supported adaptation in local delivery structures. Results: Forty-six ambulatory clinic sites based at community health centers and in public hospital/health systems in California's safety net have initiated KP's CVD risk-reduction program. This resulted in 1125 community-clinic patients in Southern California and 1120 patients in Northern California receiving their first prescription for at least 1 of the 3 cardiovascular medications within the first 18 months of implementation. KP Colorado, KP Georgia, and KP Northwest are also implementing these strategies in their local communities. Discussion: The results of program initiation demonstrate successful translation of the KP CVD risk-reduction strategy to the broader, non-KP member community: uptake of 46 community clinic sites in 2 KP Regions, with a projection of >11,000 patients being prescribed the 3 cardioprotective medications in subsequent years and in multiple Regions. This may be a model for further spread of CVD prevention measures, and prevention programs for other diseases, to all populations throughout the US, notably underserved communities disproportionately affected by chronic conditions.

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to describe the development of the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), a new instrument for the assessment of diabetes-related emotional distress, based on four independent patient samples. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In consultation with patients and professionals from multiple disciplines, a preliminary scale of 28 items was developed, based a priori on four distress-related domains: emotional burden subscale, physician-related distress subscale, regimen-related distress subscale, and diabetes-related interpersonal distress. The new instrument was included in a larger battery of questionnaires used in diabetes studies at four diverse sites: waiting room at a primary care clinic (n = 200), waiting room at a diabetes specialty clinic (n = 179), a diabetes management study program (n = 167), and an ongoing diabetes management program (n = 158). RESULTS—Exploratory factor analyses revealed four factors consistent across sites (involving 17 of the 28 items) that matched the critical content domains identified earlier. The correlation between the 28-item and 17-item scales was very high (r = 0.99). The mean correlation between the 17-item total score (DDS) and the four subscales was high (r = 0.82), but the pattern of interscale correlations suggested that the subscales, although not totally independent, tapped into relatively different areas of diabetes-related distress. Internal reliability of the DDS and the four subscales was adequate (α > 0.87), and validity coefficients yielded significant linkages with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, meal planning, exercise, and total cholesterol. Insulin users evidenced the highest mean DDS total scores, whereas diet-controlled subjects displayed the lowest scores (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS—The DDS has a consistent, generalizable factor structure and good internal reliability and validity across four different clinical sites. The new instrument may serve as a valuable measure of diabetes-related emotional distress for use in research and clinical practice.

To assess the effect of promoting a bundle of fixed doses of a generic statin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB), delivered with minimal outpatient visits, laboratory testing, and dosage titration, to people with diabetes, coronary artery disease (CAD), or both in a large integrated healthcare system.Three-year observational study of 170,024 Kaiser Permanente members with diabetes, CAD, or both.Using instrumental variable analysis, we assessed the impact of promoting the cardioprotective bundle on hospitalization rates for stroke and myocardial infarction (MI).In 2004 and 2005, 47,268 of 170,024 individuals received "low exposure" (medication possession on 1 to 365 days). Their risk of hospitalization for MI or stroke in 2006 was lowered by 15 events per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1, 30), preventing events in 726 people. Furthermore, 21,292 of 170,024 individuals received "high exposure" (medication possession on 366 to 730 days). Their risk of hospitalization for MI or stroke was reduced by 26 events per 1000 person-years (95% CI = 17, 34), preventing events in 545 people.A simplified method for bundling fixed doses of a generic statin and an ACEI/ARB was successfully implemented in a large, diverse population in an integrated healthcare delivery system, reducing the risk of hospitalization for MI and stroke.

The purpose of this study was to describe the development of the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), a new instrument for the assessment of diabetes-related emotional distress, based on four independent patient samples.In consultation with patients and professionals from multiple disciplines, a preliminary scale of 28 items was developed, based a priori on four distress-related domains: emotional burden subscale, physician-related distress subscale, regimen-related distress subscale, and diabetes-related interpersonal distress. The new instrument was included in a larger battery of questionnaires used in diabetes studies at four diverse sites: waiting room at a primary care clinic (n = 200), waiting room at a diabetes specialty clinic (n = 179), a diabetes management study program (n = 167), and an ongoing diabetes management program (n = 158).Exploratory factor analyses revealed four factors consistent across sites (involving 17 of the 28 items) that matched the critical content domains identified earlier. The correlation between the 28-item and 17-item scales was very high (r = 0.99). The mean correlation between the 17-item total score (DDS) and the four subscales was high (r = 0.82), but the pattern of interscale correlations suggested that the subscales, although not totally independent, tapped into relatively different areas of diabetes-related distress. Internal reliability of the DDS and the four subscales was adequate (alpha0.87), and validity coefficients yielded significant linkages with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, meal planning, exercise, and total cholesterol. Insulin users evidenced the highest mean DDS total scores, whereas diet-controlled subjects displayed the lowest scores (P0.001).The DDS has a consistent, generalizable factor structure and good internal reliability and validity across four different clinical sites. The new instrument may serve as a valuable measure of diabetes-related emotional distress for use in research and clinical practice.

To compare the effectiveness and costs of two alternative approaches to the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a prospective randomized trial is being undertaken at Southern California Kaiser Permanente, a large health maintenance organization. Six hundred and twelve patients with postdiet LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the range of 190-230 mg/dl (or 160-230 mg/dl for those with coronary heart disease or two or more coronary risk factors) were randomized to a stepped-care regimen (initial treatment with niacin followed by other agents if needed) or to initial use of lovastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. All patients are being followed for 1 year. The study seeks to approximate conditions of typical clinical practice: provider compliance with these plans of treatment is encouraged but not enforced and patients pay for medication as they customarily would. Principal outcomes of interest include the proportion of participants who achieve goal LDL-C at one year, the mean change in total cholesterol and LDL-C levels between baseline and the end of follow-up, and the costs of cholesterol-lowering therapy.

Objective To determine whether there is a link between hypoglycaemia and mortality among participants in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial. Design Retrospective epidemiological analysis of data from the ACCORD trial. Setting Diabetes clinics, research clinics, and primary care clinics. Participants Patients were eligible for the ACCORD study if they had type 2 diabetes, a glycated haemoglobin (haemoglobin A1C) concentration of 7.5% or more during screening, and were aged 40-79 years with established cardiovascular disease or 55-79 years with evidence of subclinical disease or two additional cardiovascular risk factors. Intervention Intensive (haemoglobin A1C

Background: The 1988 US National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel Report recommended initial treatment with niacin or bile acid sequestrants, followed by other agents if needed, to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in hypercholesterolemic patients who require drug therapy. It is unknown how the effectiveness and costs of such an approach ("stepped care") compare in typical clinical practice to those of initial therapy with lovastatin. Patients and Methods: We randomly assigned 612 patients, aged 20 to 70 years, who met 1988 National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for drug treatment of elevated LDL-C level and had not previously used cholesterol-lowering medication, to either a steppedcare regimen or initial therapy with lovastatin (both n=306). The study, conducted at Southern California Kaiser Permanente, was designed to approximate typical practice: provider compliance with treatment plans was encouraged but not enforced, and patients paid for medication as they customarily would. Results: At 1 year, the decline in mean LDL-C level was significantly greater among patients assigned to initial treatment with lovastatin (22% vs 15% for stepped care; P P P P P P Conclusions: A stepped-care regimen beginning with niacin is less costly than initial therapy with lovastatin, but also less effective in lowering LDL-C level. While it is more effective in increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, the tolerability of such a regimen may be a problem. (Arch Intern Med. 1996;156:731-739)

There are conflicting results regarding the impact of cyclic AMP on pancreatic glucagon release. The effect of aminophylline, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, on glucagon secretion was studied in four non-obese, non-diabetic, healthy young male volunteers. The subjects received separate infusions of: 1) aminophylline; 2) aminophylline and propranolol; 3) arginine; 4) aminophylline and arginine; 5) insulin; 6) aminophylline and insulin; and 7) aminophylline and isoproterenol. Aminophylline not only failed to alter glucagon levels but also did not affect the glucagon responses observed after arginine and insulin-induced hypoglycemia. The concurrent infusion of isoproterenol and aminophylline also failed to cause a glucagon response. Although glucagon release has been evoked by cyclic AMP in some in vitro systems, administration of aminophylline to human subjects does not enhance secretion. These results indirectly suggest that cyclic AMP is of little importance in the control of glucagon secretion in man, though the effects of aminophylline at the cellular level may be complex.

In an attempt to ascertain whether the sympathetic nervous system modulates glucagon release in man during starvation and hypoglycemia, the influence of alpha and beta adrenergic blockade on glucagon responses was studied in young, healthy men subjected to fasting and insulin-induced hypoglycemia. Six volunteers fasted for 84 h on three separate occasions. Plasma immunoreactive glucagon (IRG), measured initially at 12 h, climbed gradually from mean levels of 54 pg/ml to a zenith of 124 pg/ml at 48 h, with maintenance of these levels for the duration of the fast. The infusion of propranolol or phentolamine throughout the terminal 24 h of the second and third fasts failed to alter the pattern of IRG release. After an overnight fast, five volunteers received insulin intravenously, which evoked a mean rise in plasma IRG levels from 63 pg/ml to a maximum of 256 pg/ml at 30 min. The concurrent administration of propranolol or phentolamine did not modify the glucagon responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia. These data suggest that the augmented glucagon release in man during starvation or after hypoglycemia is not significantly regulated by signals from the adrenergic nervous system.

To determine if the glucoregulatory hormones, insulin and glucagon, are altered with aging inman, 44 healthy volunteers, 22-81 yr of age, were evaluted by measurement of basal levels of glucose, insulin, and glucagon in relationship to their fat mass. In addition, the secretory capacities of the alpha and beta cells were assessed by measurement of the amounts of glucagon and insulin released after intravenous administration of glucose and arginine, respectively. Although no significant differences in weight could be distinguished longitudinally, the percentage adiposity was found to increase with age. Basal concentrations of glucose, glucagon, and insulin were not appreciably altered as a function of advancing years. After intravenous glucose, the glucose disappearance rate (Kg) was significantly slower in the elderly in comparison with the young, yet no differences in glucose-induced release were found. Similarly, insulin responses after arginine infusion between young and old were indistinguishable. The release of glucagon in response to arginine infusion was not perceptibly altered during aging. Thus, despite a decline in Kg with advanging age in this healthy population, gross changes in insulin and glucagon release were not apparent. We infer from bese data that decreased carbohydrate tolerance accompanying aging in some populations may be due to factors other than abnormalities in secretion of insulin and glucagon.

Benzamidine, an inhibitor of plasmin, was compared with aprotinin (Trasylol) to determine whether it would protect against the degradation of glucagon in human plasma. At concentrations of benzamidine exceeding .05m, insignificant degradation of [125I] glucagon occurred in undiluted plasma up to 72 hr at 4 C. In plasma diluted 1:5 with buffer, glucagon destruction was inhibited by 0.01m benzamidine, which also did not interfere with antigen-antibody affinity using a rabbit antiserum with a high specificity for pancreatic glucagon (Unger antiserum 30K). When added to undiluted plasma in 0.05m benzamidine, recovery of glucagon exceeded 85% as measured by radioimmunoassay in 0.01m benzamidine. Values for immunoreactive glucagon in plasma of subjects after an overnight fast and following arginine stimulation were similar in the presence of benzamidine or Trasylol. At 1% of the cost of Trasylol, benzamidine was found to be as effective as Trasylol in the prevention of glucagon degradation in human plasma.

To assess the integrity of growth hormone (GH) secretion with age, plasma GH levels were measured in 44 men, 22 to 81 yr old, after an overnight fast, following an intravenous “pulse” of glucose and after arginine infusion. Relative adipose content was derived from weight and estimates of lean body mass by measurement of endogenous 40 potassium emission. With advancing age, there were increases in both relative adipose mass and fasting blood sugar. In contrast, plasma GH levels after an overnight fast [“basal”], after a glucose “pulse,” and following arginine infusion were not significantly altered with aging. Although there was a tendency towards diminished response to arginine in the elderly subjects, this was attributed to the increase in adipose mass. These findings are in agreement with previous studies indicating a preservation of pituitary release of GH with aging.