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Use of a standardized protocol to decrease medication errors and adverse events related to sliding scale insulin

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Correspondence to:
A C Donihi
Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh, 302 Scaife Hall, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; calabresea{at}upmc.edu
ABSTRACT
Problem: Sliding scale insulin (SSI) is frequently used for inpatient management of hyperglycemia and is associated with a large number of medication errors and adverse events including hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.

Design: Observational before and after study evaluating the impact of implementation of a standardized SSI protocol and preprinted physician order form.

Setting: University Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Strategy for change: Guidelines for the use of SSI were created by an interdisciplinary committee and implemented in non-intensive care units. In addition, a preprinted physician order sheet was developed which included the guidelines and an option for ordering one of three standardized insulin sliding scales or a patient specific scale.

Effect of change: One year after implementation the physician order form was used for 91% of orders and, overall, 86% of SSI orders followed the guidelines. The number of prescribing errors found on chart review was reduced from 10.3 per 100 SSI patient-days at baseline to 1.2 at 1 year (p = 0.03). The number of hyperglycemia episodes 1 year after implementation decreased from 55.9 to 16.3 per 100 SSI patient-days.

Lessons learnt: The protocol was readily accepted by hospital staff and was associated with decreased prescribing errors and decreased frequency of hyperglycemia.

Abbreviations: SSI, sliding scale insulin; SSR, sliding scale regular insulin

Keywords: insulin; medication errors; hyperglycemia; practice guidelines