WorldOne and Joslin Diabetes Center Share Comparative Survey Results on Emerging Diabetes Trends

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Joslin Diabetes Center, the world's preeminent diabetes research and clinical care organization, and WorldOne, the global leader in healthcare insights and intelligence, today released the results of their recent comparative outlook survey at Joslin's Diabetes Innovation 2012 conference.

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The twin survey effort solicited opinions from WorldOne PCPs and endocrinologists using MedLIVE™, the industry's leading FastResponse Market Intelligence portal, and a live audience of 450 delegates attending Diabetes Innovation 2012. Conference delegates represent stakeholders across diabetes care and prevention, including payers, purchasers, providers and suppliers. WorldOne and Joslin compared the two groups' responses on top diabetes priorities and their opinions on how public policy, new drugs and devices, and structural changes in the healthcare system will impact prevalence and quality of the disease in the future.

Among other findings of the physician cohort, the survey revealed that:

• 76% of physicians agree that the federal government should regulate foods containing unhealthy ingredients. Specifically, 71% support the New York City Health Commissioner's decision to ban sugary soft drinks larger than 16 ounces in public food venues.
• 79% believe employers should fund weight-control interventions for all employees.
• 97% believe individual health counseling has a powerful effect on the health of people with diabetes.
• 87% say more pharmaceutical options are needed for diabetes.
• Of emerging science and technology options, 62% believe innovative devices (e.g., pumps, monitors, implants) or drug therapies are most likely to have the greatest near term patient benefit.

The full survey results from the physician cohort are available at www.sermo.com/di2012.

Comparison of the two groups' responses revealed enlightening, but potentially troubling non-alignment in several key areas:

• 55% of conference delegates agree pharmacists should be able to serve as primary care providers for people with diabetes, versus only 15% of physicians.
• 70% of physicians believe pharmaceutically assisted innovations are necessary for obesity management, versus 45% of delegates.
• 17% of physicians believe future screening will have a positive impact on clinical outcomes versus only 9% of delegates. Physicians also place more emphasis on adherence and future screening and less on effective treatment.

According to Julie A. Brown, Joslin's Executive Director of Diabetes Innovation and Global Professional Education, "These results are very important to us and our mission. With Diabetes Innovation 2012, it's vital that all stakeholders are aligned, and we understand beliefs and concerns that may derail progress towards a more effective system. If stakeholder groups' concerns are not understood or ignored, we won't realize the true cooperation we need to make any sustained, valuable improvement."

"Our Joslin partnership is producing illuminating online discussion and collaboration on diabetes prevention and treatment, with actionable steps towards improving patient outcomes," said Jon Michaeli, SVP Global Community and Marketing for WorldOne Interactive, WorldOne's global engagement group. "Our combined efforts may yield the most comprehensive repository of diabetes insights anywhere on the Internet, with clear benefits for virtually anyone in the healthcare ecosystem."

"We are pleased to be partnering with WorldOne on diabetes innovation and beyond," continued Brown. Access to the community provides important, fast insight and useful tools and technologies for sharing practitioner experiences and opinions, which are vital to our continued efforts."

Back in March, Sermo, the largest online physician community in the U.S. now owned and operated by WorldOne, and Joslin joined forces with a stated mission of improving the quality and efficiency of diabetes care by stimulating collaboration and sharing expertise amongst clinicians in the U.S. and around the world. The two organizations agreed to create a series of programs and publish research studies to engage the Sermo community, relying on key opinion leaders and other industry experts to moderate the discussion and synthesize key findings and takeaways.

In July of this year, Sermo was acquired by WorldOne and is now part of WorldOne Interactive. The combined company has access to 150,000 primary care physicians and 6,000 endocrinologists in the U.S. and a total of one million verified physicians globally.

About WorldOne

WorldOne is the largest healthcare data collection company in the world serving the market research industry for over a decade. Headquartered in New York with 18 regional offices across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, WorldOne offers clients online and offline access to medical professionals in over 80 countries through a range of differentiated products and services. WorldOne's global network includes over 1.8 million fully verified healthcare professionals, who in 2011 completed nearly half a million online surveys, answering over 20 million questions.

About Joslin Diabetes Center

Joslin Diabetes Center, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the world's largest diabetes research and clinical care organization. Joslin is dedicated to ensuring that people with diabetes live long, healthy lives and offers real hope and progress toward diabetes prevention and a cure. Joslin is an independent, nonprofit institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School. The Joslin Diabetes Center Professional Education Department has been national accredited since 1995 and was awarded Accreditation with Commendation in July 2012 by the ACCME, the highest level available. Diabetes Innovation 2012 was held for the first time September 23-25, 2012 in Washington DC area. The annual activity will next take place October 4-6, 2012. For more information visit www.diabetesinnovation.org or www.joslin.org.