Table 1.

Perceptions of Primary Care Providers (n = 87) about Barriers to Diabetes Care Experienced by Their Patients (n = 245) at Four Urban Clinics

Barriers to optimal care	Proportion of study patients facing barrier (%)
Difficulty accessing community resources that could improve self-management	78.2
Difficulty keeping up with patient's progress between visits	68.8
Not enough time in clinic visits to provide optimal care	69.0
Visits spent dealing with multiple/urgent problems, not diabetes self-management	67.7
I cannot see patient frequently enough to closely monitor health issues	61.0
Limited health literacy interferes with optimal care	61.0
Inadequate self-management resources for patients with limited health literacy or limited English proficiency	60.0
Patient has problems managing medications	58.5
I do not know how to best support patient's ability to self-manage diabetes	57.9
I have not understood patient's health beliefs/how they influence diabetes care	51.9
Patient's care is often fragmented (may not show for visits, “lost to follow-up”)	51.9
Patient has not received multidisciplinary/team-based care	50.7
Limited English proficiency interferes with optimal care	38.2