Study Abstract: A quarter of the patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Administration have type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The costs of care for the treatment of patients with type 2 DM are extremely high, both in treatment expenditures for the metabolic disorder and for the care of end-organ complications. Although patients initially respond to diet and oral agent treatment, most eventually need insulin to near-normalize their glucose level, as the disease is characterized by progressive loss of insulin secretory capacity.