YNHH wins 2010 John D. Thompson Award

Yale New Haven Hospital has been awarded the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA)'s prestigious 2010 John D. Thompson Award for excellence in the delivery of healthcare through the use of data.

YNHH's entry detailed the development and implementation of a new metric that simplifies inpatient glycemic management at the nursing unit level. By developing this new tool - called the Quality Hyperglycemia Score (QHS), YNHH aims to improve the inpatient management of blood glucose levels, and engage multiple team members in quality improvement. Nearly one-quarter of all adult inpatients at Yale New Haven have diabetes.

 "While inpatient management of diabetes is a major focus at many hospitals, how to report results to caregivers in a user-friendly format has always been a challenge," said Silvio Inzucchi, MD, who led the YNHH team.

"Our new tool assigns a single, global score that reflects how well blood glucose is being controlled. It also fully engages the entire patient care team - physicians, nurses, patient care associates, allied health professionals and food and nutrition services staff - in improving the quality of glucose management on each unit," explained Karrie Hendrickson, RN, PhD,

Decision Support, and a member of the team. Initial reports show that the tool is accurate, easy-to-read and useful, and more fully engages the entire patient care team in improving the quality of inpatient blood glucose management on each unit. The team's report was presented in July at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Orlando, Florida.