Meet Our NUTTY Diabetic Education Team!

Diabetic Nurse Educator, Gala Woitte, RN, and Dietitian Katy VanderWal, RDN, make-up the diabetic education dynamic duo at Brookings Health System. Together they stay up-to-date on the latest advancements in diabetes management to help patients have the best outcomes possible.

Woitte and VanderWal are passionate about helping patients with diabetes learn new skills. They also provide information, guidance and accountability to encourage patients to make healthy lifestyle choices, such as achieving and sustaining healthy weight loss and physical activity goals.

Services the diabetic education team offers in addition to comprehensive education for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes includes:

• Nutrition management of diabetes
• Insulin administration training, including all forms of delivery
• Insulin pump management for the following brands: OmniPod, Tandem, Medtronic
• Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) services
  • Professional Freestyle CGM: service includes applying the meter, removing the meter and two weeks of data that is interpreted and shared with both the patient and the provider.
  • Personal CGM: service includes assisting the patient in setting the CGM up and getting them started. Note: the patient must bring their CGM to the appointment.

The diabetes self-management education program Woitte and VanderWal administer at Brookings Health is recognized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and follows the ADA curriculum.

To qualify for diabetic education and have it covered by health insurance, a patient must have a documented diagnosis of Type 1, Type 2 or gestational diabetes plus a referral from their primary care provider. Diagnosis criteria are either a fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dl on two separate occasions; a two-hour post-glucose challenge of ≥200 mg/dl on two separate occasions; or a random glucose test of >200 mg/dl with symptoms of unmanaged diabetes. Medicare and most private insurance companies will cover 10 hours of diabetic education services the first year after diagnosis. Medicare also allows for two hours of diabetic education every year after diagnosis.

Required Referral Information

When making a referral to Brookings Health for diabetic education, please:

• Include the patient’s name, date of birth and phone number
• Include the diagnosis and diagnosis code(s) for diabetes
• Include insurance authorization
• Send recent lab data and medications; and
• Document the medical necessity for diabetic education in the patient’s medical chart.

Have your office fill out Brookings Health’s Diabetic Educator Form and fax it to Central Scheduling at (605) 696-8889 or scan and email it to BHSCentralScheduling@brookingshealth.org.

Refer a Patient

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