Early lessons from an initiative on Chicago's South Side to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes

Interventions to improve health outcomes among patients with diabetes, especially racial or ethnic minorities, must address the multiple factors that make this disease so pernicious. We describe an intervention on the South Side of Chicago-a largely low-income, African American community-that integrates the strengths of health systems, patients, and communities to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes. We report preliminary findings, such as improved diabetes care and diabetes control, and we discuss lessons learned to date. Our initiative neatly aligns with, and can inform the implementation of, the accountable care organization-a delivery system reform in which groups of providers take responsibility for improving the health of a defined population.