A Motto for Diabetes Care: Never Satisfied. Always Evolving.

When joining a new team, the first question is always why. Why is the opportunity attractive and why join? As a new member of the Monarch team, my why can be summed up simply by one sign.

Last week, I spent my first few days with Monarch at the headquarters in Charlotte, NC. Upon entering the office, I was particularly struck by the sign that was in the lobby. The sign reflects the core values of the organization arranged in the shape of the colorful Monarch butterfly. While the company values of trust, accountability, creativity, innovation and transparency highly resonate with me, it was the title of the sign, “Never Satisfied. Always Evolving,” that I found to be the most compelling.

“Never satisfied, always evolving” is also the perfect tenet for healthcare, and particularly for the area I am most passionate about – diabetes care. We must never be satisfied with the status quo and must always be evolving to achieve safer care, better therapies, better treatments, and in the case of diabetes, less hypoglycemia, more ideal blood glucose control, and ultimately a cure.

Having worked for more than 30 years in the healthcare industry, I have seen many advances in the field of glycemic management. There have been a plethora of new drugs, advanced medical devices, sophisticated software and alternate therapies. These have helped many people, and it is exciting to see the evolution of digital health, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and the “artificial pancreas.”

However, we still seem to be in our infancy when it comes to the adoption of technology for glycemic management, particularly in the acute care setting. The majority of our hospitals are still using complex and time consuming linear paper protocols to manage insulin dosing when there are proven technologies and software solutions that can help. I believe that the industry should not be satisfied with paper protocols in today’s environment. We have evolved to a better way that results in much better outcomes, both clinical and financial.

Like many other healthcare professionals, the ability to make a difference in the lives of others is extremely important to me and factors into the roles I choose and the organizations I am involved with. I joined Monarch not only because they are making a difference, but also because they are actually changing the status quo for individuals in the hospital who have hyperglycemia. The status quo is hyperglycemia resulting in higher infection rates, slower healing and longer lengths of stay. The status quo includes frequent episodes of hypoglycemia and more frequent blood glucose checks requiring more nursing time. Fortunately, Monarch founder and inventor, nephrologist and engineer, Dr. Patrick Burgess was not satisfied with the status quo. As a result, our data demonstrates that the EndoTool Glucose Management System results in 95% less episodes of hypoglycemia and 61% reduction in hospital acquired conditions, all the while keeping 99.4% of patients at target range of blood glucose. Hospitals that are evolving and adopting EndoTool are changing their status quo.

The “Never Satisfied. Always Evolving” motto perfectly describes why I joined the Monarch team. While our results are already having a tremendous impact on many patients, we have just begun, and the journey to improve and evolve glycemic management is one that I am happy to be embarking on.

About the Author: Laurel Fuqua, RN, MSN is the Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Monarch Medical Technologies. As an accomplished executive and diabetes industry leader, Laurel draws from more than three decades of healthcare experience to lead the clinical vision and guide the product strategy at Monarch. She has held executive-level positions across a wide range of healthcare settings including, hospitals, health plans, care management, and diabetes technology firms. Prior to joining the company, Laurel served as the Senior Vice President of Clinical and Operations at Canary Health, a provider of digital health self-management programs. Previously, she was the Senior Vice President of Population Health, Clinical Affairs & Care Innovations for InSpark Technologies. She’s also held executive positions with Glytec, Alere, Inspiris, Kindred Healthcare, and Healthways, among others.