Improving Quality of Care with Electronic Glycemic Management Systems

At AACE 2017, Jagdeesh Ullal, MD, MS, Eastern Virginia Medical School discussed data from his team’s study that assessed the efficacy of an electronic glycemic management system (eGlycemic Management System) in controlling blood sugars in the hospital setting.

The study was conducted at Wake Forest, but the data was collected across 9 hospitals including about 1600 patients. Ullal explained that patients with diabetes come to the hospital often have high levels of blood sugar. “In our study, the patients, on average, had blood sugar levels of 200 when they came in, and over the course of their stay, their blood sugars were brought back to the normal range (140-180). We were able to achieve that with the eGlycemic Management System software that has also been proven in various other aspects of glucose management in the hospital.”

According to Ullal, in the hospital, it’s a very critical time for patients, because they’re often sick with various illnesses, so a day-to-day adjustment of insulin is necessary. It could be difficult for healthcare providers to keep up with the numbers and insulin changes among other areas of care.

So, the eGlycemic Management System software provides automated decision support by which it recommends dose adjustments from day to day, and as a result, the healthcare providers don’t have to micromanage the blood sugars while the glycemic control tool is helping with day-to-day and meal-to-meal titrations. “In our study, we were able to show that patients had a blood sugar drop of 200 to the mid-160s. And, there were about 24 adjustments (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) over the course of an average hospital stay.”

Ullal highlighted this software could be a great addition to daily practice:

· It helps achieve good glycemic control for patients in the hospital

· It prevents serious consequences in diabetes and insulin management (hypoglycemia)

· In previous studies, have shown that the length of stay for patients in the hospital is shorter.

Furthermore, results have indicated that the meal-to-meal adjustments are not something all providers are able to carry out in an average hospital stay, but this system is able to do that for hospitals and healthcare providers in a safe and effective fashion.

Ullal concluded, “Quality improvement projects are a valuable aspect of healthcare these days, because they serve to guide policy and procedures in hospitals and clinics.”