Standardising practices through form design and education improves insulin management

Area of Science:

• Hospital Medicine
• Pharmacology
• Diabetes Care

Background:

• Diabetes is prevalent in hospitalized patients, often necessitating insulin therapy.
• Insulin, a high-risk medication, is implicated in approximately 15% of reported medication-related incidents.
• Complex insulin management is frequently handled by non-specialist healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the safety and quality of insulin management in hospital settings.
• To address common errors in insulin prescribing and administration.
• To implement a standardized approach to insulin and blood glucose management.

Main Methods:

• Development of new standardized forms for intravenous and subcutaneous insulin and blood glucose management.
• Utilization of a locally validated improvement methodology.
• Audited pilot studies conducted across four hospitals to assess effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Confirmed improvements in insulin management post-implementation of new forms.
• Demonstrated no adverse impact on overall diabetes management, as measured by Glucometrics.
• Successful introduction of standardized forms to 70% of Queensland public hospitals.

Conclusions:

• Large-scale standardization of insulin management within hospital systems is achievable.
• Standardized forms and decision support can mitigate common insulin use errors.
• The implemented methodology offers a feasible pathway to improve patient safety in diabetes care.