Perioperative Diabetes Care: Developing and Testing an Implementation Strategy in Terms of Effectiveness, Experiences and Costs

OBJECTIVE/RESEARCH QUESTION Optimising glycaemic control during hospital stay reduces rate of infections, length of stay and mortality,in particular in surgical patients. In guidelines and literature recommendations on optimal perioperative diabetes care are described. Nevertheless, in daily practice, perioperative glycaemic control is very often not achieved. This study aims at developing an implementation strategy that is tested on feasibility to improve perioperative diabetes care in terms of effectiveness, experiences and costs.

DESIGN/OUTCOME MEASURES/IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY A step-wise implementation model is applied: 1) recommendations on optimal perioperative diabetes care (e.g. the administration of intravenous insulin, encouragement of diabetes self-management) are systematically translated into quality indicators; 2a) using these quality indicators, current care is measured by performing a medical record search among 400 patients in 6 hospitals; 2b) barriers and facilitators for optimal care are measured by performing interviews with professionals and, e.g. regarding self-management, with patients; 3) based on this information an implementation strategy is developed;4) implementation activities are enacted and 5) evaluated in a controlled before-after design in 6 hospitals providing before and after intervention 400 patients.

DATA ANALYSIS To obtain an indication of the effectiveness of the strategy, baseline and post intervention outcomes of intervention hospitals are compared with outcomes in control hospitals, using the quality indicators. Experiences of participants in the intervention hospitals will be measured to, if necessary, adapt the strategy to make it more effective and acceptable.

ECONOMIC EVALUATION A cost analysis of the implementation strategy will take place. Implementation costs will be related to the difference in percentage of patients treated as described in the quality indicators before and after implementation. Information on the costs and effects at the patient level will also be compared before and after the implementation of the recommendations on optimal care.