10/06/2022    Leonard A. Levy, DPM, MPH

American Diabetes Association Launches 3-Year Alliance to Reduce Amputations

A three-year effort was launched by the American
Diabetes Association called the Amputation
Prevention Alliance (APA) designed to decrease the
number of diabetes-related amputations in the
country —including five partner organizations.
They will work to advocate policy changes,
increase clinician education about caring for
diabetic complications, and improve patients'
awareness of warning signs. 2016 data on diabetes-
related amputations from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), shows that there
were 4.9 lower-extremity amputations per 1,000
diabetic adults in the U.S. More than half of
those people who have had a lower-extremity
amputation end up having an amputation of the
opposite extremity within five years, according to
the CDC.

The APA, including its five partners, is a three-
year effort to decrease the number of diabetes-
related amputations in the country. The partners
include diabetic foot care provider Podimetrics,
wound care company Advanced Oxygen Therapy, and
membership-based medical society Critical Limb
Ischemia Global Society, as well as the medical
device companies Abbott and Cardiovascular
Systems. According to Jon Bloom, Podimetrics’ CEO
and co-founder, most diabetes-related amputations
are preventable.

To combat preventable diabetes-related
amputations, the alliance will prioritize patient
education about the signs and symptoms associated
with diabetic foot ulcers and diabetic neuropathy.
It will also work with providers to ensure their
patients with complex diabetes have regular check-
ups, including appointments with a podiatrist that
are focused primarily on foot health. The
alliance’s success will be determined by one
metric: whether it can reduce the more than
154,000 amputations that occur every year in the
U.S.

The APA is a proponent of the Amputation Reduction
and Compassion Act (ARC), a bill, introduced in
Congress last year that would provide coverage of
peripheral artery disease (PAD) screening for at-
risk beneficiaries under the Medicare and Medicaid
programs without cost-sharing requirements. It
would help prevent vulnerable individuals from
developing serious complications from PAD, which
can lead to amputation. The ARC Act would also
prohibit amputations without the completion of
testing to determine if alternative options could
be utilized to benefit patients and establish a
PAD education program.

ARC will focus on reaching providers and patients
in communities facing disproportionately high
rates of amputations and amputated-related
mortality, such as the Black and Latino
communities. Black people in the U.S. face
amputation rates up to four times higher than
White Americans, and Latino people are 50% more
likely to have an amputation. (Source: HEALTH TECH
ADA SEPT 29, 2022)

Leonard A. Levy, DPM, MPH

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