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Diabetes Care in Germany
Germany has good to excellent diabetes care.

Staged Diabetes Management Update
From 1998-99, physicians trained in SDM in Germany conducted a study of patients in Hamburg to answer two primary questions:

• Would SDM improve patient perceptions of their diabetes care and therefore of their quality of life?
• Would SDM improve blood glucose control at no additional cost?

The outcomes revealed a four-fold increase in patient satisfaction with care and quality of life. Secondly, HbA1c levels dropped on average and the implementation of SDM proved cost neutral.

As a result, the country's Social Security Administration signed on to fund and expand the use of SDM in Germany, in collaboration with the government and the German Diabetes Association. In the aftermath, 400 additional physicians have been trained in SDM. Germany has also helped to develop a sister SDM program in St. Petersburg, Russia.