Legal Aspects of the Team Approach to Diabetes Treatment

Expansion of the team approach to diabetes care will most likely have significant ramifications in malpractice liability law as applied to diabetes educators, physicians, treatment teams, and supporting hospitals. This analysis focuses on the nature of the team approach to diabetes care, nationally promulgated standards for its practice, and predictions of the parameters of malpractice law. The estab lishment of a national certifi cation procedure identifies specialists in diabetes education, allowing for the expanded roles of diabetes educators, and promotes a minimum standard of care to which practitioners may be held. Likewise, the criteria for recog nition by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) serve as guide lines for diabetes education programs. Current legal. decisions suggest that these standards may be applied nationally as measures of malpractice liability. Application of certification guidelines may minimize allegations of malpractice.