Tim asked for a few of us to meet with
him on Saturday. We were concerned as this is unusual for him to ask
a few to meet. When we were all together at his residence, Tim
started by thanking us and stating that he had never planned this, as
he had never had a reason to be so negative.
Tim pointed at me and said back when I
had told him that I would walk out of a meeting if he ever invited a
certified diabetes educator (CDE) to address the group, he thought I
was not serious. He continued that now he knew why and would never
invite a CDE to speak to the group. Allen asked him what had
happened.
Tim stated that the medical insurance
he carried had put him on a program where he needed to meet with a
CDE for an hour each year and a registered dietitian (RD) for two
hours each year. He had agreed to meet with a CDE, but had
discouraged any contact with a RD and asked why not a nutritionist
that he was meeting with for an hour each year. They finally allowed
this but said it needed to be for two hours, but still felt it should
be with the nutritionist they choose. This was still being
negotiated, and he would keep us posted.
Barry said that the session with the
CDE must not have gone well and I said it must have been with a
person with dual titles (RD and CDE). Tim said dual titles and most
of the hour was about carbohydrates and no diabetes education.
Before you ask, I have been in contact with the insurance carrier and
even they were surprised at the lack of diabetes education. Tim
continued that they were not aware of the dual titles and he answered
many questions about what was covered. He said that he has faxed
them a copy of her business card and a formal complaint that when he
is in a meeting for diabetes education, he did not consider nutrition
only as education on diabetes.
I stated this is a common problem with
the dual titles and I suggest you send out an email about this
suggesting that people refuse diabetes education from people with
dual titles unless it does not include RD or RDN (registered
dietitian nutritionist). Allen said this may have been happening for
many people that don't know the difference and they have been getting
away with doing that. Allen asked me what I was going to do about my
cousin Beverly when she became a CDE.
I said this should not be a problem as
her dual titles will be RN (registered nurse) and CDE and she will be
teaching diabetes education from a nurse perspective and not a
dietitian. In addition, we have resolved our issues pertaining to
CDE status and with her husband having type 2 diabetes, she knows how
important good diabetes education is and needs to be.
Jason asked if most of Tim's session
had been on how many grams of carbohydrates to eat and how important
low fat was to his health. Tim grimaced and said that was the most
of it and how to prepare meals to get the correct number of
carbohydrates in each meal.
Barry stated that most dietitians only
have a bachelor's degree, with Allison having a master's degree and
Suzanne having a PhD, we are well informed, and they will work with
us for good nutrition instead of promoting carbohydrates on top of
carbohydrates. Jason added that they know good nutrition and teach
this. They do not need to follow what the Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics promotes and are not shills for Big Food.
I said that most insurance companies do
not accurately tell us what was billed and therefore we have no
transparency in what was billed for us to dispute any billing. This
should be done for all billings by our insurance before anything is
paid and especially for diabetes education and nutrition. If this
were standard, the dual titles would have to do things correctly.
Plus, this would prevent double billings for both education and
nutrition when it was to be for one only.
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