Inpatient Glucose Management Program

Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism
CLINICAL NEWS: Inpatient Glucose Management Program

The Inpatient Glucose Management Program — organized and led by endocrinology faculty members Jennifer Kirby, MD, PhD, and Anthony McCall, MD, PhD — is designed to improve the quality of diabetes care that patients at University Hospital receive, no matter what their primary diagnosis or area of care. The initial one-year trial program during FY 2014 focused on patients in the Thoracic Cardiovascular Postoperative ICU; the division plans to expand the program to other ICU locations and eventually to all clinical units.

Diabetes and hyperglycemia are common in hospital patients; more than a third of adults admitted to University Hospital are found to have these chronic diseases. Studies indicate that about a quarter of patients with diabetes are hospitalized at least once a year — three times the frequency of those without diabetes.

Diabetes that is not well controlled can compromise patients’ recovery from other, acute conditions or illnesses: in coronary disease patients, for example, poorly controlled diabetes increases the risk for coronary heart failure; in critically ill patients, it can increase the risk of inflammation and reduce their immune levels.

The diabetes management team is studying the best ways to treat these patients, but a key principle is tailoring treatment to the individual; a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. “The standards of care may change as we develop better and safer tools for managing diabetic inpatients,” says Dr. McCall.