Inpatient Diabetes Management Program
Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism
INPATIENT DIABETES MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Anthony McCall, MD, PhD, FACP, James M. Moss Professor in Diabetes in Internal Medicine
The Inpatient Diabetes Management Program, organized and led by Endocrinology faculty members Jennifer Kirby and Tony McCall during FY 2014, is designed to improve the quality of diabetes care that patients at UVA 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 over the next couple of years, and eventually to include all clinical units.
Diabetes and hyperglycemia are common in hospital patients; more than a third of adults admitted to UVA 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.
Jennifer Kirby, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
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. And Dr. McCall commented that “The standards of care may change as we develop better and safer tools for managing diabetic inpatients.”