Diabetes care
-
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Effect of physician specialty on outcomes in diabetic ketoacidosis.
More than 100,000 people are hospitalized annually in the U.S. with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Outcome differences have not been examined for these patients based on whether their primary care provider is a generalist or a diabetes specialist. The objective of this study was to investigate hospital charges and hospital length of stay (LOS) for patients with DKA according to the specialty of their primary care provider. ⋯ Endocrinologists provide more cost-effective care than generalists do when serving as primary care providers for patients hospitalized with DKA.