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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Effectiveness of a computerized insulin order template in general medical inpatients with type 2 diabetes: a cluster
Deborah J Wexler1, Peter Shrader, Sean M Burns
1Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. dwexler@partners.org
Objective:
To determine whether an electronic order template for basal-bolus insulin ordering improves mean blood glucose in hospitalized general medical patients with hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes.
Research Design And Methods:
We randomly assigned internal medicine resident teams on acute general medical floors to the use of an electronic insulin order template or usual insulin ordering. We measured diabetes care parameters for 1 month on all patients with type 2 diabetes and blood glucose <60 mg/dl or >180 mg/dl treated by these physicians.
Results:
Intervention group patients (n = 65) had mean glucose of 195 ± 66 mg/dl. Control group patients (n = 63) had mean glucose of 224 ± 57 mg/dl (P = 0.004). In the intervention group, there was no increase in hypoglycemia.
Conclusions:
Access to a computer insulin order template was associated with improved mean glucose levels without increasing hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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