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GlucoStabilizer Insulin Dosing Software
Selected by UVa
to Support $25 Million NIH Grant to Study
Diabetic Strokes
August 17, 2011 - Charlottesville, VA - The
University of Virginia has received a $25
million grant that could lead to
breakthroughs for diabetic stroke patients.
The grant, from the National Institutes of
Health, provides money for UVa to lead a
56-center nationwide clinical trial of a new
treatment for acute stroke victims with
hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar.
According to Karen Johnston, chair of the
UVa Department of Neurology and principal
investigator of the study, the new treatment
applies to diabetic stroke victims. “The
people who will be eligible for this
research will be hyperglycemic acute stroke
patients,” Johnston said. “All or nearly all
will have diabetes.”
The new treatment involves giving patients
an insulin IV starting within 12 hours of a
stroke for up to three days. The amount of
insulin will be determined using MAS
Informatics GlucoStabilizer insulin dosing
software, which calculates the IV dose based
on the patient’s current glucose reading and
instructs the caregiver to adjust the IV
drip accordingly. GlucoStabilizer was
selected for use in the study based on its
performance and widely used acceptance in
critical care settings throughout the
country, as well as its unique computer
networking capability.
more >
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2010 Dec
29. [Epub ahead of print]
The Economics of
Glycemic Control in the ICU in the United
States
Scurlock C, Raikhelkar J, Mechanick JI.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Currently
the USA has an aging population, with
increasing deficits and a healthcare
system that most would agree is in need
of repair. Finding ways to curtail costs
is urgently needed. Attention to
glycemic control and metabolic care
offers a cost-effective method of
treatment to reduce complications.
RECENT FINDINGS:
Healthcare-related expenses occupy an
expanding portion of gross domestic
product in the US and are a driver of
the deficit. Despite all of this
spending, the US receives average marks
on outcomes and is not obtaining value
in its healthcare. Any movements toward
healthcare reform must focus on
improving outcomes per healthcare dollar
spent, and increasing value. The
Affordable Care Act will place greater
emphasis on preventing complications and
reducing hospital-acquired infections.
The original Leuven trial demonstrated
that proper implementation of glycemic
control can reduce morbidity and
mortality. More recent studies have
shown that there is a cost-benefit to
glycemic control as well, through
reduction of hospital stay and
prevention of complications. On the
basis of these changes, physicians who
practice metabolic care and provide
glycemic control are well positioned to
add value in this era of healthcare
reform.
SUMMARY: Glycemic control is
inherently valuable in the care of ICU
patients as it decreases infectious
complications, reduces lengths of stay,
and has a positive effect on morbidity
and mortality. Further studies should be
completed to delineate the exact amount
of cost-savings that can be obtained by
proper implementation of glycemic
control in the ICU.
more
The Relationship between Hyperglycemia
and Surgical Site Infection
Study Suggests
Potential Glycemic Target
AACC
Clinical Laboratory Strategies, by Genna
Rollins
Numerous studies have examined the impact of
tight glycemic control in different
populations of hospitalized patients, with
varying results. Some have found benefits
such as reduced surgical site infections
(SSI), while others have reported harms like
increased mortality. Now, new research
examines the impact of perioperative
hyperglycemia on the incidence of SSI in
general and vascular surgery patients. This
issue of Strategies explores those findings.
NOTE: viewing the rest of this article
requires AACC membership
more >
Tight Glycemic Control: What Do We Really
Know, and What Should We Expect?
Stanley A Nasraway Jr and Rishi Rattan
Tight glycemic control has engendered large
numbers of investigations, with conflicting
results. The world has largely embraced
intensive insulin as a practice, but applies
this therapy with great variability in the
manner of glucose control and measurement.
The present commentary reviews what we
actually know with certainty from this vast
sea of literature, and what we can expect
looking forward.
more >
Treating Americans With
Diabetes Cost Hospitals $83 Billion
U.S.
hospitals spent $83 billion in 2008 caring
for people with diabetes, according to the
latest News and Numbers from the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality. In that
year, nearly one of every five
hospitalizations involved a person with
diabetes. This amount is 23 percent of what
hospitals spent overall to treat all
conditions in 2008. The expenditures
included costs associated with more than
540,000 hospital stays specifically for
diabetes and roughly 7.2 million stays for
patients who had other conditions in
addition to diabetes. For example, a person
with diabetes may be admitted primarily for
heart disease, kidney damage, infection, or
foot or leg amputation. Source: Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Read more >
Intensive nursing
work schedules and the risk of hypoglycaemia
in critically ill patients who are receiving
intravenous insulin
Nurses in
the intensive care unit (ICU) commonly work
frequent 12 h shifts, potentially leading to
fatigue and reduced vigilance. The authors
hypothesised that rates of hypoglycaemia in
patients receiving an insulin infusion would
be associated with the intensity of work of
the bedside nurse in the preceding 72 h.
more >
Lourdes Offers
GlucoStabilizer Technology to Patients
Lourdes
Diabetes Center offers the GlucoStabilizer,
the latest in diabetes management technology
to our inpatients. The GlucoStabilizer is a
computerized calculation software program
used by nurses and doctors to quickly and
accurately calculate the dosage of
intravenous insulin administered to patients
with elevated or low levels of blood
glucose. This technology computerizes the
complex calculations used to determine the
proper IV insulin dosage and provides
automated patient reports. This process
improves a patients glucose control, saves
critical staff time and resources by doing
the calculations allowing for nurses to have
more time to provide care at the patients
bedside, and reduces potentially dangerous
dosing calculation errors.
Tufts NEMC, Moses Cone
and Salina Regional Choose GlucoStabilizer
Charlottesville, VA - Medical Decisions Network (MDN)
is pleased to announce that Tufts New England
Medical Center, Boston, MA; Moses H. Cone Memorial
Hospital, Greensboro, NC; and Salina Regional
Medical Center, Salina, KS hospitals have
implemented the company’s GlucoStabilizer insulin
dosing software.
Sloan-Kettering, St.
Joseph's and Odessa Regional Choose GlucoStabilizer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Medical Decisions Network (MDN)
is pleased to announce that Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center, New York, NY; St. Joseph's Hospital,
Tampa, FL; and Odessa Regional Hospital, Odessa, TX
hospitals have implemented the company’s
GlucoStabilizer insulin dosing software.
GlucoStabilizer™
Introduces 1st
to Market ADT Interface
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, June 5, 2008 - Medical
Decisions Network is pleased to announce the release
of the Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) interface
to its GlucoStabilizer™ insulin dosing system. This
represents the first time a system of this kind can
automatically populate demographic data from the
hospital’s existing ADT system. GlucoStabilizer’s
ADT interface eliminates the need for manual entry
of patient demographic data thus reducing the
chances of clerical error and saving valuable
nursing time. Carol Moran, RN, BSN, CDE of United
Health Services notes, “The GlucoStabilizer has been
like magic in controlling glucose levels in our
patients and adding ADT interface ability is a real
step forward in automating all aspects of medical
record charting.” The GlucoStabilizer is an FDA
cleared system used by hospital nurses to quickly
and accurately calculate the dosage of intravenous
insulin administered to patients with elevated
levels of blood glucose, the simple form of sugar
the body converts to energy for survival.
FDA Clears
GlucoStabilizer® Intravenous Insulin Dosing Software
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, October 17, 2007 – Medical
Decisions Network (MDN) announces Food and Drug
Administration 510(k) clearance for the company’s
GlucoStabilizer IV Insulin Dosing Software. The
GlucoStabilizer software is used by hospital nurses
to quickly and accurately calculate the dosage of
intravenous insulin administered to patients with
elevated levels of blood glucose, the simple form of
sugar the body converts to energy for survival. More
and more hospitals are adopting measures to control
elevated glucose levels (commonly referred to as
diabetes or hyperglycemia) in critical care units
because studies have shown a resulting marked
improvement in patient outcomes.
These improvements include reduced mortality
(death), length of stay, rate of infection, and a
variety of other risks. According to Gary Stouder,
MD, at Indiana’s Hancock Regional Hospital, "Based
on what we’ve seen so far, by automating our insulin
dosing protocol with the GlucoStabilizer software,
we expect to see a decrease in length of stay of 1
day and up to a 50% decrease in mortality in our
hyperglycemic ICU patients."
Currently, hospitals rely on printed procedures to
calculate IV insulin dosage based on hyperglycemic
patients’ varying glucose levels. More frequent
glucose tests – as many as one or more per hour for
tightly controlled ICU patients – burden the already
overextended nurses. And referring to complicated
paper protocols stresses clinical staff even more.
Computerizing these calculations and providing
automated patient reports may not only improve
glucose control and save critical time and
resources, but may reduce potentially dangerous
dosing calculation errors as well.
The health benefits of this technology are hard to
resist: GlucoStabilizer users have seen a stark
reduction in the incidence of hypoglycemia, a
potentially life-threatening severe drop in blood
glucose. And it takes significantly less time to get
a patient out of the danger zone and into the target
glucose range1.
According to Greg Menke, Medical Decisions Network’s
CEO, “We’ve seen technology make sweeping
improvements in the quality and cost of healthcare.
Our GlucoStabilizer Computerized Insulin Dosing
Software is another major contributor to these
improvements because it gives hospital clinicians
the power to control hyperglycemia, a huge and
growing health and cost burden in this country.”
The GlucoStabilizer is a networked application,
accessible from any computer on a hospital’s
network. This means that clinicians can continue a
patient’s infusion progress even when the patient is
moved to a new unit.
“This FDA 510(k) clearance will be important for
clinical administrators who are considering the move
to this beneficial technology and feel more
comfortable with FDA’s nod,” says Menke. “It’s an
important step for all of us.”
Medical Decisions Network (MDN) and Healthways,
Inc. agree to introduce network-based insulin dosing
calculator to Healthways hospital customers
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA and NASHVILLE, TN – March 22,
2007 – Medical Decisions Network (MDN), providing a
total solution for tight glycemic control in
hospitals, from program formulation to national
benchmarking, and Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY),
the market leader in high-impact Health and Care
SupportSM services, today agreed to introduce the
GlucoStabilizer™, a network-based insulin dosing
calculator, to Healthways hospital customers to
optimize blood glucose control in hospitalized
patients.For more than 25 years Healthways has been
the industry’s leading diabetes care management
company, working closely with hospitals, physicians
and caregivers to improve the quality of care for
hundreds of thousands of patients each year. The
decision to partner with GlucoStabilizer comes from
a number of studies that suggest one of the key
reasons for hypoglycemia to occur in an ICU setting
with IV insulin is the lack of timely blood glucose
testing and titration of insulin dose.1,2,3
The GlucoStabilizer provides on-site measurement of
glucose and automatically calculates the necessary
IV insulin drip adjustments based on a selected
protocol. For added safety, after a nurse enters a
current glucose reading, the system prompts them to
enter the reading a second time. A visual and
audible notification alarm then reminds nurses when
the next reading is due.
Automating calculations enables nurses to rapidly
and confidently manage hyper and hypoglycemia across
a variety of patient populations. And because the
GlucoStabilizer is a network-based application, it’s
accessible from any PC connected to the hospital
intranet.Hospital customers implementing Healthways
diabetes management solutions have reduced average
length of stay and ICU days for patients with
diabetes. In addition to reducing costs, hospitals
have seen improved clinical outcomes, such as
reduced mortality, infection rates, and incidences
of hyperglycemia/hypoglycemia.
References
1.Krinsley, JS MD, FCCP; Kleinpell, RM, PhD, RN,
FCCM. Targeting Improvements in the ICU: Challenges
and Solutions. Critical Connections, February 2005,
Vol. 4, No. 1.
2.Krinsley JS. The Effect of an Intensive Glucose
Management Protocol on the Mortality of Critically
Ill Adult Patients, Mayo Clinic Proc. 2004;
79:992-1000.
3.Van den Berghe G. Tight Blood Glucose Control with
Insulin in “Real-Life” Intensive Care, Mayo Clinic
Proc. 2004; 79:977-978.
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized,
comprehensive Health and Care SupportSM solutions to
help millions of people maintain or improve their
health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare
costs. Healthways' programs are designed to help
healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow
the progression of disease associated with family or
lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible
health for those already affected by disease. Our
proven, evidence-based programs provide highly
specific and personalized interventions for each
individual in a population, irrespective of age or
health status, and are delivered to consumers by
phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions,
both domestically and internationally. Healthways
also provides a national, fully accredited
complementary and alternative Health Provider
Network, offering convenient access to individuals
who seek health services outside of, and in
conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system.
For more information, please visit
www.healthways.com
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