Shared medical visits have been shown to have a positive effect on weight loss. For example, shared medical visits were conducted over a two year period for 74 overweight patients with a body mass index (BMI) >25kg/m2. Visits provided education and support to promote weight loss (Palaniappan,et al., 2011) Visits were 90 minutes each and consisted of 60 minutes to address individual health concerns followed by 30 minutes of education using content from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services National Diabetes Education program (2014). Weight loss was compared to 356 patients who received comparable care and advice by the same provider during the two year period. Patients who participated in the shared medical visits experienced an average -1% loss of total body weight and -1.1% decrease in baseline BMI. Those who did not participate in shared medical visits experienced a +0.8% weight gain, and +0.8% increase in baseline BMI. It was concluded participants who participated in shared medical visits lost weight compared to those that received standard care. Patients who participated in the most shared medical visits lost the most …show more content…
This is especially relevant for patients with diabetes and hypertension (Dickman, et al., 2012). Thirty seven patients with hypertension and diabetes were offered the opportunity to participate in monthly shared medical visits over a four month period of time. The focus of these visits was to provide self-management education and support, improve self-managing behaviors and set and achieve exercise SMART goals. Eight percent of the patients attended all four visits. Because they engaged in a regular physical activity program, at the end of the program, every patient had a decrease in SBP, and most patients that had an increased A1C and LDL prior to participating in the program showed a reduction. Patients reported they felt supported by their peers, would participate in shared medical visits if they were continued to be offered and would recommend the visits to family or friends.
A shared medical visit program is a promising strategy for improving quality of care and standardizing patient visits, including improving patient education for self-management skills, patient biometric outcomes and feelings of social support. Overall, research supports the use of group medical visits for diabetes management