This activity will assist learners in identifying optimal lifestyle and behavioral changes that can impact disease development and progression in their patients and will discuss practical strategies and forms of support that HCPs can offer to assist patients in setting healthy lifestyle goals. Learners will examine how appropriate prescribing decisions must be based on a comparative analysis of diabetes medications and will also review disease etiology and biological changes seen during disease progression. Lastly, the presenter will discuss policy and system changes that can best assist in integrating evidence into daily practice for the purpose of maximizing health in individuals with T2D. 

In this activity, participants will explore the pandemic’s impacts on individuals’ mental health, including the increasing risks for, and prevalence of, stress, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, especially for special populations such as front-line personnel (i.e., health care professionals (HCPs), teachers and funeral directors), children and the millennial and geriatric populations. In addition, participants will review the multifaceted effects of the pandemic on the behavioral health care delivery system, specifically regarding access to care, delivery of services and digital health utilization. The implications for current and future utilization of delivery modalities, such as telehealth, behavioral health coaching and other mental health care management strategies will be discussed, taking into consideration the behavioral health care concerns that have emerged during this transitional time in response to the transforming health care landscape and the population’s evolving mental health care needs. 

Participants in this activity will learn about the system framework theory of decision-making and how System I- and System II-type cognitive processes can best be utilized in the health care setting. The role of heuristics (mental “shortcuts” and rules-of-thumb) will be examined, as well as the types of cognitive biases (inherent and often unconscious systematic errors in thinking) that most commonly result in negative health outcomes. Debiasing strategies to address these negative influences on rational and optimal decision-making that are applicable to the self and the health care team will be explored. 

This activity will explore how existing health care technology innovations can improve health equity for underserved patients and will examine the changing landscape of provider coverage and reimbursement. It will discuss anticipated solutions for vulnerable individuals (including Medicare and Medicaid dual-eligible individuals) and examine why certain telehealth programs have failed in the past. New approaches to benefit coverage for telehealth-related expenses will also be discussed, along with the future trends and essential elements associated with shifting to quality value-based care that can lead to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes, reduced health care costs and increased levels of health equity.