Welcome and Introductions
- Dr. Vendrame reviewed the meeting agenda and introduced Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, MHS and Jenise Wong, MD, PhD
- Drs. Mathioudakis and Wong shared brief remarks about their new roles as Medical Advisors.
- They expressed enthusiasm for:
- Identifying new priorities and clinical problems
- Enhancing data efforts and funding opportunities
- Leading impactful work within the collaborative
- Working closely with the T1DX team and PIs across the collaborative
Kaiser Permanente Collaboration (Early-Stage Discussion)
- Nicole Rioles shared updates on potential partnership opportunities with Kaiser Permanente (early exploratory phase)
- Key points:
- Connection established with Tina Davis, PhD, MPH; she is our primary contact in Georgia
- Potential collaborations with other Kaiser Permanente regions to co-author publications
- Dr. Demeterco-Berggren described her work with Kaiser on the West Coast
- Dr. Alonso expressed interest in being involved. Strong alignment with KP in CO.
- Several centers have adult and pediatric pairings that could support this work
- Idea originated from the 2025 Learning Session and is being explored as an opportunity
- Potential opportunity to partner with https://www.hcsrn.org/, where KP data resides
- Next steps:
- Identify Kaiser connections in additional states
- Leverage Kaiser data to conduct analyses and better demonstrate outcomes
- Use de-identified and aggregated data for analysis
- Involve individuals with expertise in health systems and resources
- Explore opportunities to incorporate health economics data that helps us tell the story of the strong process/outcomes outputs using QI
- Develop justification for time and resources required to support this work
Engagement Scorecards and Faculty Engagement
- Claire Rainey presented on engagement scorecards
- Dr. Vendrame noted a strong sense of belonging tied to engagement
- Discussion themes:
- Barriers faced by individual centers may be shared across the network
- Opportunities for networking and collaboration
- Professional growth, including academic promotion
- Strategies to advocate for junior faculty and clinical staff participation and recognition
Discussion around Recognition, Promotion, and Faculty Support
- Dr. Mathioudakis proposed drafting a letter template for PIs to support national recognition and promotion
- Using benchmarking to identify underperformance and resource gaps
- Developing nomination letters
- Dr. Wong emphasized giving appropriate credit while helping junior faculty avoid overcommitment
- Dr. Demeterco-Berggren highlighted the need to attract early-career faculty
- Highlighting a fellow or “fellow award” at learning sessions
- Dr. Chao shared that participation in QI initiatives has helped reduce burnout
- QI offers meaningful opportunities for change
- Nicole Rioles discussed committee membership opportunities, creating new named roles for engagement opportunities and career development
- Dr. Mathioudakis noted the need for funds to support engagement-building and pipeline development
- Dr. Jack asked whether a committee focused on pipeline opportunities would be valuable
- Dr. Hannon raised concerns about lower compensation for endocrinologists compared to other specialties
- The importance of advocacy for salary increases
- The need to cultivate passion for endocrinology early in medical training
Blue Circle Health (BCH)
- Blue Circle Health continues to expand and is now active in 20 states.
- Discussion points:
- What level of influence the collaborative can have on BCH’s expansion
- Potential collaboration with BCH
- Drs. Vendrame and Demeterco-Berggren shared their experiences with BCH
- BCH is not currently available in California.
- Dr. Demeterco-Berggren discussed the added value of what BCH could bring for peds patients entering adult care, when there is sometimes a care/insurance gap. BCH can be a great bridge.
Beta Cell Preservation Work Group
- Dr. Demeterco-Berggren provided updates:
- Commentary under review in Diabetes Technology & Obesity Medicine.
- White paper released in February
- Goal to expand data sharing to include Stage 1 and Stage 2 metrics across the collaborative
Future Priority for the Clinical Leadership Committee: RPM Implementation Playbook
- Dr. Mathioudakis proposed developing a playbook for implementing Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), including:
- Appropriate billing codes
- Staffing models
- Patients per FTE
- Cost-effective implementation strategies
- Comparison of reimbursement across:
- CGM interpretation
- RPM billing codes
- DSMT billing codes