• Jeffrey B Boord, Robert A Greevy, Susan S Braithwaite, Pamela C Arnold, Patricia M Selig, Helga Brake, Joanne Cuny, and David Baldwin.
• Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Health Care System, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-8802, USA. jeffrey.boord@vanderbilt.edu
• J Hosp Med. 2009 Jan 1; 4 (1): 35-44.

ObjectiveTo evaluate contemporary hospital glycemic management in US academic medical centers.DesignThis retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients discharged from 37 academic medical centers between July 1 and September 30, 2004; 1,718 eligible adult patients met at least 1 of the inclusion criteria: 2 consecutive blood glucose readings >180 mg/dL within 24 hours, or insulin treatment at any time during hospitalization. We assessed 3 consecutive measurement days of glucose values, glycemic therapy, and additional clinical and laboratory characteristics.ResultsIn this diverse cohort, 79% of patients had a prior diagnosis of diabetes, and 84.6% received insulin on the second measurement day. There was wide variation in hospital performance of recommended hospital diabetes care measures such as glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) assessment (range, 3%-63%) and timely admission laboratory glucose measurement (range, 39%-97%). Median glucose was significantly lower for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) compared to ward/intermediate care. ICU patients treated with intravenous insulin had significantly lower median glucose when compared to subcutaneous insulin. Only 25% of ICU patients on day 3 had estimated 6 AM glucose or=1 glucose measurement >or=180 mg/dL on measurement days 2 and 3. Severe hypoglycemia (<50 mg/dL) occurred in 2.8% of all patient days.ConclusionsDespite frequent insulin use, glucose control was suboptimal. Academic medical centers have opportunities to improve care to meet current American Diabetes Association hospital diabetes care standards.

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