Making an appointment for a diabetes class or educator visit could help your health and your wallet. Results from a new study published in the April 2008 issue of Diabetes Care show that diabetes education can lead to fewer hospital visits and reduced medical costs. “People often feel like it’s very overwhelming [to attend diabetes classes], but making that effort seems to make a real difference in the outcomes up the road,” says Jessica M. Robbins, PhD, an epidemiologist with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Robbins and colleagues with the Urban Diabetes Study analyzed data on more than 18,000 patients from eight Philadelphia Health Care Centers who were diagnosed with diabetes between March 1993 and December 2001. The researchers compared the patients’ primary care health data—including visits to a nutritionist, involvement in diabetes classes, and health education participation—to hospital discharge information.

The results were significant: Over an average follow-up period of 4.7 years, the patients who made at least one educational visit saw an average savings of $11,571 in hospital charges per person. Compared to those with no educational visits, these patients experienced a 34 percent lower hospitalization rate.

Patients who attended at least one diabetes class or health education course also saw hospital charge reductions and fewer hospitalizations. But it was those who visited a nutritionist who reaped the greatest rewards. The 1,683 patients who saw a nutritionist at least once had an average savings of $13,872 per person over the follow-up period. These patients also faced a 45 percent lower hospitalization rate than those who didn’t attend any classes. Need another reason to book an appointment? The average annual hospital charge for people who visited a nutritionist was $4,744—54 percent lower than the $10,258 paid by those who didn’t take any classes.

While researchers aren’t sure why nutritionist visits yielded the greatest health benefits, Robbins guesses it’s the one- on-one format that may be missing in general diabetes courses or health classes. But her research shows that even if you don’t sit down with a nutritionist, attending any class could do you good. “What I thought was really striking is that even one visit seemed to make a real difference,” says Robbins. “It underscores that you really should expect to get some benefit from getting professional education in whatever form you can.”