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According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hyperglycemia and diabetes in the hospital setting affect 38% to 46% of non-critically ill hospitalized patients. With diabetes and hyperglycemia increasing in our society, increased morbidity, length of stay in the ICU and in the hospital, and higher infection rates and more ventilator days also...

Inducing mild hypothermia in some patients with cardiac arrest and other traumatic events has proven to significantly improve their long-term neurological function. Many experts feel that this is one of the most important advancements in the history of the science of resuscitation. According to Dr. Jonathan Adler, writing in Medscape, patients who have been shown to benefit from induced hypothermia...

Kidneys can be injured by a number of reasons. In the United States alone, more than 26 million people are estimated to have chronic kidney disease (CKD), although most don’t know it because early signs are often missed. “While diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure that does not mean that everyone with diabetes will develop CKD severe enough...

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...

Over 200,000 patients die unnecessarily in US hospitals each year. The Patient Safety Movement mission is to eliminate these deaths by 2020. The known patient safety challenges include: Culture of Safety, Healthcare-Associated Infections, Medication Errors, Failure to Rescue: Monitoring for Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression, Anemia and Transfusions, Hand-off Communications, Sub-optimal Neonatal Oxygen Targeting, Failure to Detect Critical Congenital Heart Disease...

Patients with Acute Heart Failure Syndromes (AHFS) are not only common in the emergency department, they are also associated with high short-term and long-term mortality rates. AHFS patients may encounter hyperglycemia, which occurs in up to 40% of patients regardless of whether they have a history of diabetes. This blog post is based on a study published by the European...

Monarch Medical Technologies EndoTool SubQ provides clinical decision support for any situation where subcutaneous insulin is administered to all patient types, including pediatrics. This proprietary technology models, predicts and adjusts to each patient’s unique physiology and individual response to insulin. EndoTool will always recommend the safest, most effective patient-specific dose, beginning with the correct total daily dose and following with...

Advances in computer technology have brought about an ever-expanding list of tasks which had previously required the manual ‘human touch,’ and now are programmed to automatically occur. The high profile examples of this phenomenon are self-driving cars, thermostats that adjust themselves based on the time of day, and the amazing interconnectivity of the “Internet of Things.” Computer-guided systems can also...

In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we provided answers to questions regarding the safety and improvement of inpatient glycemic control, as well as the recommended glycemic targets and how to achieve them. Today, we will explain the cost effectiveness of treatment, and the optimal strategies for the transition to outpatient care. Improving the inpatient glycemic control protocol...

In part 1 of this series, we provided answers to questions regarding the safety and improvement of inpatient glycemic control. Today, we will address recommended glycemic targets and how to achieve those targets. What glycemic targets can be recommended in different patient populations? Different glycemic targets are advised for different patient scenarios. For example, glucose targets are higher for patients...

Recent controversies at the National Institute of Health Clinical Center are every hospital administrator’s worst nightmare. According to a June 2, 2016 article in the Wall Street Journal, the Bethesda, Maryland hospital, recognized for its cutting-edge medical research, has an unsafe pharmacy dosing program for patients. In 2015, Federal Drug Administration inspectors found what they termed “serious manufacturing problems” with...

In healthcare today, patients with diabetes are not only more likely to be hospitalized than patients without diabetes, they are also more likely to have longer durations of hospital stay. According to the American Diabetes Association, twenty-two percent of all hospital inpatient days were acquired by patients with diabetes. Hospital inpatient care accounted for half of the U.S. medical expenses...