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The management of patients with intravenous insulin is fraught with challenges when a standardized dosing protocol is utilized. These challenges include increased nursing workflow, the potential for dosing errors due to the complexity of the protocols, and the occurrence of hypoglycemia due to the lack of patient specificity with the protocol. The use of insulin dosing software such as EndoTool...

2022 CMS Changes for eCQM The 2022 final rule from CMS brings the adoption of two electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for the management of inpatient diabetes in the hospital setting. This rule will standardize when and how hospitals report inpatient hyperglycemia and inpatient hypoglycemia and will directly impact how hospitals publicly rank according to these quality standards. Specifically, hospitals...

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions took place early this month and the team at Monarch was once again in attendance. With five days of comprehensive education and presentations, this year’s session was packed with updates, insights, and new announcements in diabetes care. While a swing through the exhibit hall shows the latest in the rapidly advancing diabetes technology,...

“It’s only when you drop yesterday’s assumptions that you can glimpse tomorrow’s patterns and possibility. To see deeper, unsee first.” – Umair Haq Clinical inertia is a term that has been used to define the resistance to a new therapeutic treatment. Across healthcare, we see clinical inertia often, but perhaps the best example is the treatment of hyperglycemia. The way we...

Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally low blood glucose (blood sugar) levels, usually less than 70 mg/dL. This condition is recognized to be one of the main restrictions in achieving normal control in type 1 diabetes. Historically, the risk of hypoglycemia has been considered lower in type 2 diabetes, however, with the increasing use of insulin to treat type...

Strategies to Minimize Risk of Hypoglycemia We addressed the patient risks of severe hypoglycemia in the part 1 of this series and followed it with the clinical consequences of severe hypoglycemia in part 2. After looking at both scenarios, you may be thinking, how can hypoglycemia be treated and what can be done to minimize the risk of hypoglycemia?’ The...

Clinical Consequences of Severe Hypoglycemia In part 1 of this series, we described a scenario of a patient receiving intensive insulin therapy, and the most frequent critical complication to follow: hypoglycemia. Not only are there patient risks of severe hypoglycemia, there are clinical consequences as well. The clinical effects of hypoglycemia include: Hospital admissions – In a prospective study of...

Patient Risks of Severe Hypoglycemia Edward Mason is an 18-year old male with a height of 175.26 cm (5’9) and a weight of 72.57 kg (160 lbs). Edward is admitted to the emergency department with severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and weakness. He is hyperglycemic with no prior history of diabetes. After examination, Edward is diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)...

According to the American Diabetes Association, hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally low blood glucose (blood sugar) levels, usually less than 70 mg/dL. Hypoglycemia can be caused from too much insulin, inadequate food intake or poor timing of meals, or exercise without adequate adjustments. There are three categories of hypoglycemia: mild, moderate and severe. Mild Hypoglycemia Mild hypoglycemia includes...

Throughout this series, we have spent time explaining the Patient Safety Movement and the strategies and tactics for preventing severe hypoglycemia. In part 3, we outlined three plans — leadership, practice and technology — that require action in order to predict and prevent severe hypoglycemia episodes. How is Monarch Medical Technologies dedicated to the safety of patients receiving treatment and...

In part 2 of this series dedicated to the Patient Safety Movement Pledge, we educated our readers on the performance gap and explained that hospitals and healthcare systems will have to take action in specific leadership, practice, and technology plans in order to predict and prevent severe hypoglycemia episodes. Below are the suggested plans. Leadership Plan Must include the fundamentals...

Recently, there have been product announcements from companies in the glucose management space promoting new tools to “predict” hypoglycemia. There is a big difference between products that market hypoglycemia’s predictive ability and the EndoTool technology. EndoTool not only predicts changes in glucose levels, it also takes the next step in terms of treatment by adjusting insulin dosing recommendations for every...

Hypoglycemic events can be life-threatening, especially for patients with diabetes. Severe hypoglycemia is associated with increased morbidity, length of stay, and mortality. As we mentioned in part 1 of this series,  over 200,000 patients die unnecessarily in US hospitals each year, and the Patient Safety Movement mission is to eliminate these deaths by 2020. While looking to improve prevention of...

In our previous blog, we looked at the quick facts behind hyperglycemia and the personalized glucose management software to safely treat hyperglycemia while preventing hypoglycemia. While hyperglycemia often has the spotlight when it comes to blood glucose levels, hypoglycemia is just as alarming. Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally low blood glucose levels, usually less than 70 mg/dL. If...

Hyperglycemia is a topic frequently discussed in hospitals today. It is not a defining characteristic of diabetes, but is a hefty threat to the body if not addressed in a timely manner. When left untreated, hyperglycemia can cause long-term complications of diabetes such as: eye damage, heart attack, kidney damage, nerve damage, and stroke. Healthcare puts a strong emphasis on...