The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidencegrading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction. Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC. PATIENT-CENTERED COLLABORATIVE CARE Recommendations 4.1 A patient-centered communication style that uses person-centered and strength-based language and active listening, elicits patient preferences and beliefs, and assesses literacy, numeracy, and potential barriers to care should be used to optimize patient health outcomes and health-related quality of life. B 4.2 Diabetes care should be managed by a multidisciplinary team that may draw from primary care physicians, subspecialty physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, dietitians, exercise specialists, pharmacists, dentists, podiatrists, and mental health professionals. E A successful medical evaluation depends on beneficial interactions between the patient and the care team. The Chronic Care Model (1-3) (see Section 1 "Improving Care and Promoting Health in Populations") is a patient-centered approach to care that requires a close working relationship between the patient and clinicians involved in treatment planning. People with diabetes should receive health care from an interdisciplinary team that may include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, dietitians, exercise specialists, pharmacists, dentists, podiatrists, and mental health professionals. Individuals with diabetes must assume an active role in their care. The patient, family or support people, physicians, and health care team should together formulate the management plan, which includes lifestyle management (see Section 5 "Lifestyle Management"). The goals of treatment for diabetes are to prevent or delay complications and maintain quality of life (Fig. 4.1). Treatment goals and plans should be created Suggested citation: American Diabetes Association. 4. Comprehensive medical evaluation and assessment of comorbidities: