Provena Mercy Medical Center – Center for Diabetic Wellness
Aurora, Ill.

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In January 2007, Provena Mercy Medical Center's Center for Diabetic Wellness established the A1C Achiever Patient Recognition Program to celebrate patient's achievements in controlling meeting their target blood glucose A1C levels. The program takes a comprehensive approach to help patients better manage their diabetes by learning about the day-to-day aspects of diabetes self-care.

A1C is the test a health care provider does to let a patient know how he or she is doing at controlling their blood glucose levels during the past two to three months. To become an A1C Achiever, a patient must have an A1C of less than 7 percent. Since the beginning of the program in 2007, more than 60 percent of program graduates were A1C Achievers.

The program is offered in Spanish as well as English to ensure accessibility. According to the United States Department of Minority Health, Hispanic Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes than non-Hispanic people. Hispanics/Latinos also have more complications and worse outcomes from diabetes related complications than non-Hispanic whites.

Numerous research studies have shown that an elevated A1C is associated with an increased risk of complications in patients with Diabetes. For each 1 percent decrease in A1C, there exist a reduction of 37 percent in small blood vessel damage related complications such as blindness, kidney disease and nerve damage and a 14 percent reduction in large blood vessel damage such as heart attack.

In 2007, Kim Meeks and Alfredo Hernandez were named the very first A1C Star Achievers of the year.