when examining patient data from the hospital programs, the mean age was 57.2 years. patients entered the hospital DSMT at the point of service in a suburban office were significantly older then those at the urban PCP office (age:suburban = 66.2 years vs urban = 54.7 years, p < .0001). patients entered the hospital DSMT programs with higher mean AlC values did those in the primary care practices (8.28% vs 7.83%). figure 3 shows the analysis of the AlC values through 1 year after the initial education session. A mean age-adjusted decrease in AlC values in those in hospital programs (0.95%) varsus primary care (0.48%) was achieved (P = .0001). A longer follow-up period would be necessary to determine the effects of DSMT over time.