UNMC team finds new protocol ‘significantly’ improves perioperative monitoring of diabetic patients

A study by investigators at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha suggests that by embedding a standardized glucose management protocol into the electronic health record (EHR), perioperative teams can better control the blood sugar levels of diabetic patients.

Troy Wildes, MD

The study, published in Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, evaluated more than 1,200 diabetic adults who underwent non-cardiac surgery before and after the EHR-embedded protocol launched. Investigators found “significant improvement in glucose control during surgery and a reduction in preoperative hypoglycemia, all without increasing complications” due to the protocol.

“The idea grew out of a recognition that perioperative dysglycemia was both common and difficult to address,” said Troy Wildes, MD, vice chair of perioperative medicine, quality and safety at the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology through the medical center’s website. “Despite national guidelines, there was no unified, real-time approach built into our everyday workflow. We saw an opportunity to standardize care, reduce practice variability and address monitoring gaps by embedding guidance directly within the EHR.”

Get more info and insight from the practitioners who developed the protocol via UNMC , and access the full study here.