Quality of Diabetes Care at a Student-Run Free Clinic

Student-run clinics are emerging safety-net practices for the uninsured; despite the over 110 clinics that currently operate across the United States, however, no data exist on the quality of care being delivered at such sites. The East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP) of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is a medical student-run, attending-supervised free clinic that offers primary care to the uninsured of surrounding East Harlem. The aim of this study was to evaluate diabetes care quality at the EHHOP clinic. Diabetes management was assessed using common quality-of-care indicators such as glycosylated hemoglobin level and blood pressure control. Clinic rates of such diabetes quality-of-care indicators ranged from 12% to 96%, and in most areas was comparable to or better than averages previously reported for uninsured populations.