Professional- licensure, reimbursement, other

I have completed ACSM- cep in October 2022. Do I need to have 2 year experience as CEP to be eligible to take certified diabetes care and education specialist (CDCES) exam or experience as EP is enough, please clarify.

Thank you!

Mrs. Deepthi

Mrs. Deepthi, that is a great question. There are many specialities that CEP can pursue and diabetes is one of them. Unfortunately, CEPs are underrepresented as members of the diabetes clinical care team. The ACSM-CEP is one of the eligible requirements for initial certification. In addition, you need professional practice experience and provide diabetes education services.

You can find all the detail by going to the Certification Board for Diabetes Care and Education (CBDCE) www.cbdce.org . The staff is super helpful if you have questions. It may take a few years to secure your Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (CDCES) but it will be worth it. There are individual who are willing to mentor prospective candidates to secure the clinical experience required. Check with CBDCE. Also check-out the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES) www.diabeteseducator.org/. Good luck you can do it!

Thank you for the info. I will reach out to board.

Hello,

I have worked in cardiac rehab for four years and am considering becoming a CDE. Does anyone know how billing/reimbursement works for CEPs that are CDEs? The patients I would be seeing would be enrolled in cardiac rehab, but I could do diabetes education with them as well.

Thanks!

Hi there!

I too am a CEP -- 25 years now -- and I sat for the CDE exam (now CDCES) in 2014. Unfortunately, there is no reimbursement for CDCESs in cardiac rehab. The care and education that you provide to your diabetes cardiac rehab patients falls under a cardiac rehab session.

Don't let this discourage you from taking the exam and becoming an expert in diabetes care and education. You'll be the go-to person when there are diabetes-related questions and maybe some compensation for your earned credential. And that's quite a nice professional boost!

Having the CDCES certification does allow you to be a sole provider of your own diabetes self-management education program and bill Medicare and third-party insurers. That's a nice feather in your cap if you want to create your own diabetes program some day and provide diabetes care and education.