Blog

Thanksgiving is a time for celebration with family and food, but celebrating the holiday from a hospital bed is never quite as enjoyable. For those with diabetes and hyperglycemia, the holiday can either be riddled with rules to ruin the day or a free-for-all that leads to extremely high blood glucose levels. As healthcare providers, we want this time to...

November is National Diabetes Month. This year, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health, is celebrating the month by promoting health after gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Up to one in every 10 pregnancies in the United States is affected by...

As highlighted in our last blog, the need to improve our glycemic management practices within the inpatient setting is clear. It’s better for both the patient and hospital, but the challenge comes with implementing quality improvement initiatives. Throughout the EndoTool User Group Meeting, five elements to drive adoption were identified as the keys to success in your glycemic management optimization initiatives:...

On October 18th, Monarch hosted its annual EndoTool User Group Meeting bringing together clients from across the country to discuss inpatient glycemic management and the use of EndoTool. As Monarch President & CEO, Linda Beneze, stated at the beginning of the meeting, “we are much stronger together than apart,” and that became evident throughout the day. From new users to...

Historically, diabetes care in the hospital setting has been hard to measure for many organizations. When it comes to glucose metrics, many keep track of their hypoglycemia as “never events,” but measurement of hyperglycemia has not been as much of a priority. This, however, may be changing for hospitals across the country. Reporting glucose metrics, as part of improved medication...

At this year’s EndoTool User Group Meeting, taking place October 18th in Charlotte, North Carolina, Caroline Isbey, Associate Director Accreditation and Disease-Specific Care Certification at The Joint Commission, will be presenting on the Advanced Inpatient Diabetes Care Certification. In a Q&A with Caroline, we discuss the certification program and what attendees can plan to learn more about during her presentation...

As we are entering another exciting season of football, I started thinking about how the elements of a football game are a lot like solving any major problem. The players need to generate positive forward movement to continue to move the chains to get to score. In most situations other than football, we refer to this as “moving the needle,”...

In a Q&A with Dr. Patrick Burgess, MD, PhD, the founder and inventor of EndoTool, we discuss the early development of EndoTool, his experience, and the research he plans to share at this year’s User Group Meeting. Q: How did you come up with the idea to create EndoTool? A: While practicing nephrology at Carolinas Medical Center, I was asked...

The Monarch team attended the American Diabetes Association 78th  Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida at the end of June. The annual conference highlighted new ideas and significant advances in diabetes research, treatment, and care. While multiple sessions were covered and new studies were released, two major themes emerged at this year’s event— action to address diabetes care is now needed more...

You’ve put in the time and the effort, and EndoTool® is now live in your hospital. But are you planning for the clinical adoption challenges? Whether you prefer to use the nursing process (ADPIE), Deming’s PDCA cycle, or another method of change management, the key to continuous improvement and sustainable success comes with evaluation of your intervention. Implementation of the EndoTool...

The month of May is host to several healthcare recognitions; there’s National Nurses Week, National Hospital Week, Stroke Awareness Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. But, among all these recognitions, there is one that doesn’t get nearly as much attention: National Critical Care Awareness and Recognition Month (NCCARM). NCCARM honors the intensive care unit (ICU) teams that make a difference...

As the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, said, “the very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.” Hospitals have an obligation to deliver safe, quality care, and this obligation can only be achieved with the support of the largest group of healthcare professionals, nurses. For more than 60 years, National Nurses Week...

Whether in the cardiac care unit or in a general hospital medicine unit, helping patients to reach glucose control is a necessary component to delivering quality care.  To advance glycemic management practices, and ultimately improve patient outcomes, hospitals must have a comprehensive inpatient glycemic control program, and for it to be successful, it must include these eight essential elements: Support...

When it comes to glycemic management in the hospital setting, hyperglycemia is present in every unit. In order to standardize care, it requires a cross functional team with multiple clinicians, staff members, and departments all working together. With March being National Nutrition Month, we are focusing on one of the most important areas of collaboration, nutrition. Understanding and monitoring a...

“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...