The Entred study (National Representative Sample of People with Diabetes) has two objectives: to describe, assess, and monitor the health status of people with diabetes receiving treatment, as well as the methods and outcomes of their care; and to provide representative data that will enable the evaluation of diabetes networks by comparing patients followed within these networks to those followed in standard clinical practice. This study is a direct follow-up to the public health program of the French National Health Insurance covering the management of type 2 diabetes between 1998 and 2000. Based on a random sample of 10,000 treated people with diabetes living in metropolitan France, the following were planned: a three-year follow-up of healthcare utilization; surveys, via mailed questionnaires, of the individuals and their physicians; a hospital survey; and a mortality survey. This article presents the initial results (characteristics of people with diabetes and quality of medical follow-up) derived from healthcare utilization data for 2001.