How UHS Partnered with Artera to Close Gaps in Diabetes Care

As the largest and most comprehensive provider of healthcare services in upstate New York’s Southern Tier, United Health Services (UHS) is committed to delivering high-quality care that fosters a healthier, more vibrant community. Providing healthcare services to over 600,000 patients, the organization offers a wide range of services, from primary care to advanced specialty treatments. 

Among these specialties is the UHS Diabetes and Endocrinology Center, supported closely by UHS Primary Care clinics across the region. Together, these practices provide patients with comprehensive diabetes care, offering education in self-management, medication use, nutrition and personal responsibility skills that empower them to achieve and maintain optimal health. A central focus of both the specialty center and primary care offices is ensuring timely screening and ongoing monitoring of patients’ average blood glucose levels, an essential component of effective diabetes management known as Hemoglobin A1c Control. 

Keeping patients engaged in their care journey, however, can be a challenge – especially when it comes to routine lab work. By leveraging Artera’s patient communication platform, UHS has seen a transformative shift in its ability to reach patients and improve clinical outcomes.

Annie DePugh, Senior Director, Care Coordination & Health Equity at UHS, shared her thoughts about this shift below. 

A Scalable Solution for Complex Workflows

Our journey with Artera began in primary care, but it didn’t take too long to see that it could do so much more. Our team quickly recognized the platform’s potential to be used across various complex workflows in different parts of the organization. What started as a tool for basic scheduling was easily adapted for our Population Health efforts, demonstrating Artera’s flexibility to meet the diverse needs of a large organization like ours. 

By using Artera to trigger communications regarding necessary lab draws (for Hemoglobin A1c), we’ve successfully shifted from time-consuming manual phone calls to automated, text-based outreach that has improved both operational efficiency and outcomes within our diabetes center. 

The Artera Impact: Significant Improvements in Hemoglobin A1c Metrics 

The impact of this digital engagement on our Hemoglobin A1c metric has been nothing short of impressive. By the end of 2025, UHS reached an internal IOC metric of 74.0%.

• Exceeding Goals: This performance was 2.0 points above our internal goal.
• Year-over-Year Growth: We ended the year 4.4% higher than where we started.
• Long-term Success: Over the past 24 months, we have seen a 11.4% improvement in A1c control.

To understand the true value of the platform, we looked at the specific outcomes for patients engaged via Artera in 2025:

The data shows that most patients engaging via Artera are doing a great job of sticking to their treatment plans and keeping their blood glucose levels in check.

It’s also worth noting that without the 814 successes (aka compliant results) attributed to Artera’s engagement, our end-of-year performance could have regressed by 3.4 points to 66.5%. This shows just how significant digital engagement is in helping patients keep up with their care. 

Beyond the Lab Draw

For the 124 individuals who completed a lab draw (prompted by Artera) and whose A1c remained above 8.1, the communication didn’t stop there. These patients were immediately assigned to a Population Health Nurse Care Manager (NCM) to ensure they received the specialized support they needed. This transition from automated outreach to clinical intervention illustrates the power of a connected care journey.

Through our partnership with Artera, UHS is proving that better patient communication leads to better health. We are committed to building on this momentum, broadening our impact across additional specialties and increasingly complex workflows.