Employer-Based Screening for Diabetes and Prediabetes in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System A Natural Experiment for Translation in Diabetes (NEXT-D) Study

Objective: This study evaluates an employer-based diabetes/prediabetes screening intervention that invited at-risk employees via letters, secure e-mails, and automated voice messages to complete blood glucose testing at a health plan facility. Methods: Quasi-experimental cohort study among health plan members insured by two employers that received the intervention and three employers that were selected as control sites. Results: The proportion of at-risk members that completed a screening was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (36% vs 13%, P < 0.001, adjusted for patient characteristics). Among those screened in the intervention group, the presence of obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and tobacco use were significant predictors of having a result that indicated diabetes or prediabetes (P < 0.05, all comparisons). Conclusions: A low-intensity, employer-based intervention conducted in collaboration with a health care delivery system effectively increased screening for diabetes/prediabetes.