Transforming Diabetes Care
Meet Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu
Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM joined the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in October 2007. Serving as Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, he will develop innovative programmes and strategies that will help Johnson & Johnson companies and the healthcare community better address the delivery of diabetes care around the world.
Born in Hawaii, Dr. Moritsugu achieved Admiralty status within the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, was the Federal representative to numerous national healthcare agencies and consulted with several international organisations and governments.
Before serving as Acting Surgeon General in 2006, Dr. Moritsugu was the Deputy Surgeon General and the principal assistant and advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General for nearly ten years. Having completed residencies in internal medicine and in preventive medicine, Dr. Moritsugu is Board Certified in preventive medicine and holds Fellowships in the American College of Preventive Medicine, the Royal Society of Health, and the Royal Society of Medicine. Dr. Moritsugu has Type 1 diabetes and appreciates the many challenges facing patients-and diabetes professionals-today.
An Interview with Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM and Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute
The vision of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute is to transform diabetes care through training and education. The Institute's chairman, former Acting Surgeon General Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, explains how this new Institute will improve diabetes patient outcomes.
- Why did you take on this new role and what do you hope to accomplish?
- As one of the more than 20 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes, I have a personal stake in improving how diabetes care is delivered at the community level. Today, diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and in the rest of the world and no one entity, government or private, can do it all. The Institute is a way that Johnson & Johnson can augment existing efforts by equipping thousands of physicians, nurses, physician assistants and diabetes educators, working at the community level with the knowledge and skills training to transform diabetes care. After a long career in the U.S. Public Health Service, I can't think of anything more important and rewarding than guiding this initiative.
- What is the mission of the Institute?
- We intend to change the very paradigm of care for diabetes. Because diabetes is a chronic, lifelong condition, it presents unique issues for patients and their healthcare providers. Our solution is to arm health professionals on the front lines of delivering care with the latest information and practical skills to help their patients live healthier, longer lives.
- How is the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute different from other Diabetes Institutes or learning centers?
- A number of outstanding academic centers and hospital systems have developed programmes to promote patient education, conduct professional training, and sponsor research on diabetes. The Institute is not intended as competition for these programmes. Rather, we complement and augment these efforts by helping professionals to think and act differently, so they can manage more patients more effectively. The Institute is a way that Johnson & Johnson can help healthcare professionals working at the community level to make the entire healthcare team more effective across a greater number of patients.
- How would you describe the Institute's learning environment?
- The Institute is designed to provide a unique, nurturing environment so healthcare professionals will feel at home as part of a collective diabetes family. As such, healthcare professionals will share in dialogue and discussion with experts in the field and other health colleagues about ways to transform diabetes care and learn from one another.
Physically, the Institute offers both didactic training rooms and comfortable and inviting discussion areas. But our goal is for the Institute to be much more than a physical space. We aim to create a virtual Institute that reaches out into the health professional community through technology, providing new information and insights on diabetes care.
- After completing this programme, what new skills or tools will healthcare professionals be able to immediately apply to their practice or patients?
- To this point, we have attempted as a society to manage diabetes. Through direct, hands-on experience and training regarding current cutting-edge products, information and science, we hope to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and tools to help patients master diabetes. Towards this end, the Institute provides specialised training and lectures taught by national experts in the field of diabetes and diabetes education, tailored to the cultural nuances of the host country, and to the specific scientific needs of the communities.
Attendees of the Institute will leave with knowledge and skills immediately applicable to their practice and patients. They will also have ongoing access to an ever-expanding network of alumni who link through the Institute to exchange information within their regions and across borders.
- What can you tell us about future plans and offerings?
- The Institute is the beginning of a long-term effort by Johnson & Johnson to arm those healthcare professionals on the front lines in delivering diabetes care with the latest information and practical skills to help their patients live healthier, longer lives. This starts by training physicians, nurses, physician assistants and diabetes educators in each country and then expanding the reach through distance learning offerings. We also hope to build a global network of alumni who link through the Institute to share information and insights on diabetes care within their regions and across borders. The four Institutes are only a beginning. We intend to expand the number of physical locations around the globe as we learn from the initial four.
- As a health professional, and a person with diabetes, what do you believe are the greatest barriers and opportunities in diabetes care?
- From a personal perspective, managing diabetes is a lifelong effort; and mastering diabetes will be no less. It will be important that health professionals be equipped with the latest information about science and technology, including advances in monitoring and insulin pump devices, and skills to communicate this information effectively and efficiently to those we serve - the patients, the families, and the communities. In turn, patients, families, and communities will better understand how to improve self-management of diabetes, and achieve self-mastery of this lifelong challenge, as it is we, the patients, who have the most to gain, and the most to lose.
In short, some of the greatest barriers lie in communication and in health literacy-the acquisition and maintenance of up-to-date knowledge about diabetes on the part of the health professional, and the communication of this knowledge to their patients, so that those we serve hear, understand, embrace, and put into action the information and guidance we health professionals provide. The opportunities are boundless: we now know more and more about this disease, we now have more and more medications and devices to help manage this disease.