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Improvement in Inpatient Glycemic Care: Pathways to Quality

  • Hospital Management of Diabetes (GE Umpierrez, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

The management of inpatient hyperglycemia is a focus of quality improvement projects across many hospital systems while remaining a point of controversy among clinicians. The association of inpatient hyperglycemia with suboptimal hospital outcomes is accepted by clinical care teams; however, the clear benefits of targeting hyperglycemia as a mechanism to improve hospital outcomes remain contentious. Glycemic management is also frequently confused with efforts aimed at intensive glucose control, further adding to the confusion. Nonetheless, several regulatory agencies assign quality rankings based on attaining specified glycemic targets for selected groups of patients (Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) measures). The current paper reviews the data supporting the benefits associated with inpatient glycemic control projects, the components of a successful glycemic control intervention, and utilization of the electronic medical record in implementing an inpatient glycemic control project.

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Conflict of Interest

Joseph A. Aloi, Christopher Mulla, Jagdeesh Ullal, and David C. Lieb declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eastern Virginia Medical School, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 855 W. Brambleton Avenue, Norfolk, VA, 23510, USA

    Joseph A. Aloi, Jagdeesh Ullal & David C. Lieb

  2. Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, 1 Joslin Place, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Christopher Mulla

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  1. Joseph A. Aloi
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  2. Christopher Mulla
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Correspondence to Joseph A. Aloi.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Hospital Management of Diabetes

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Aloi, J.A., Mulla, C., Ullal, J. et al. Improvement in Inpatient Glycemic Care: Pathways to Quality. Curr Diab Rep 15, 18 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-015-0587-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-015-0587-4

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