Albuminuria Screening in People With Type 2 Diabetes in a Managed Care Organization

Abstract

Introduction: Albuminuria—an increased amount of urine albumin, in milligrams, adjusted for grams of urine creatinine—is an early marker of diabetic kidney disease. Several new classes of medications are now available that effectively lower albuminuria levels with the potential to delay or prevent the progression of diabetic kidney disease. However, screening for albuminuria in the U.S. is low in population-based studies (64 years were more likely to have completed albuminuria screening. Screened individuals had lower HbA1c, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than those who were not screened. Conclusions: In an integrated healthcare model, it is possible to achieve consistently high rates of albuminuria screening in people with Type 2 diabetes, especially in groups at high risk for kidney disease.

Keywords

• Albuminuria
• screening
• HEDIS
• diabetic kidney disease
• integrated health care