Using Group Medical Visits With Those Who Have Diabetes: Examining the Evidence

The number of people with diabetes is expected to rise to over 592 million by the year 2035. Past work provides evidence that the conventional method of primary care delivery may not meet many patients' needs. An alternative to the conventional one-on-one appointment is care offered to a group of patients through group medical visits (GMVs). Group medical visits for diabetes have a positive impact on physiologic and self-care outcomes including improved HbA1c, blood pressure control and self-management skills. Less work has examined the impacts of GMVs on systems of care; however, evidence suggests improved primary and secondary prevention strategies and the potential for GMVs to decrease emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Additional work is needed to examine the effect of GMVs on patient reported quality of life, functional health status and cost-savings. Further work is also needed on which patients GMVs work best for and patient barriers to attending GMVs.