Diabetes team consultation: impact on length of stay of diabetic patients admitted to a short-stay unit.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of endocrinology team consultation on hospital stay and clinical outcomes of diabetic patients admitted with a primary non-diabetes-related diagnosis in a short stay unit (SSU).


METHODS
Patients admitted to the SSU between 2001 and 2005. Between 2001 and 2003 there was no endocrinology team consultation available and the management of hyperglycemia was handled by the SSU team alone. From 2003 until 2005 an endocrinology team was in charge of diabetes care. We compared in both periods: prevalence of diabetes, length of hospital stay, mortality, early readmissions and number of patients requiring conventional hospitalization.


RESULTS
In period 2001-2003, 1023 patients were admitted, among which 212 were diabetic (20.7%). Over the years 2003-2005, 892 patients were hospitalized, 223 were diabetic (25%). Clinical characteristics of diabetic patients from both periods were comparable, but glycaemia at admission was higher on the second period (217 mg/dl versus 198 mg/dl). The length of stay of diabetic patients in the second period decreased from 5.49 to 4.90 days. There were no significant differences in mortality (1.4% versus 0.4%) or in early re-admissions among the two periods.


CONCLUSIONS
The intervention of a diabetes team diminished the average length of stay of diabetic patients.
Puig
J
J
Department of Endocrinology, Hospital del Mar., Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. 92809@imas.imim.es
Supervía
A
A
Márquez
M A
MA
Flores
J
J
Cano
J F
JF
Gutiérrez
J
J
D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy*; D004704:Endocrinology; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013030:Spain