0

Bridging the gaps in healthcare to keep you healthier

Congratulations—you are going home at last! Along with your relief and anticipation of being home, you may have some anxiety about the coming weeks.  If you are like most patients, you likely do not have an appointment to see your doctor regarding your diabetes care for several weeks.  What happens in the meantime?

This is where we can help: the Endocrine Care Group’s Diabetes Bridge Program is designed to close that gap between being in the hospital and your next clinic appointment.

Research has shown that high blood glucose levels can contribute to problems in recovering from surgery, wound healing, clearing infections, and overall well being.

Your home is different from the hospital—at home you can eat what (and when) you like, and have an activity pattern that is very different from your hospital stay. As a result, your medications will likely need some adjustment during these first few weeks. You may also have some questions or concerns that cannot wait until your appointment. The Bridge Program is here to help.

Benefits to you:

•  Frequent review of your glucose logs—as often as once a day

• Rapid feedback and recommendations—within several hours, guaranteed.

• Recommendations by Board Certified specialists in Diabetes and Metabolism. Your glucose logs and health histories are reviewed by a physician, who in turn will contact you with his/her professional recommendations.

• Improved glucose control—two of the factors that contribute to poor diabetes control is lack of communication and delays in medication changes. The Diabetes Bridge program can alleviate those problems and have you on the road to good control. Better glucoses, better health!

• Flexibility—you can send your glucose logs and/or questions at your convenience, any time of day, by e-mail, fax or telephone.

• Peace of mind—the doctors at the Endocrine Care Group are able to answer your qestions and concerns regarding diabetes care in general, as well as specific questions regarding your medications. This is our field of specialty—we know Diabetes.

 Starting the Bridge Program at a later date:

Alternatively, you can start on the Bridge program within several weeks of your hospital discharge date as you may discover that you need some assistance with your blood sugars after a week or two at home. This is no different than starting right out of the hospital. We will still require the documents outlined above and will commence communication with you once we receive them.
 The Bridge Program is primarily for those individuals who have recently been hospitalized. If you have been at home for more than 8 weeks and would like some assistance with Diabetes Management, we encourage you to enroll in our other Diabetes Management services, as outlined on our website www.endocrinehelp.com.
 

To Begin Bridging the Gap:

 We will need the following(your hospital physician or social worker can send us your health information)

• Your recent hospital discharge summary

• A current list of your medications

• Recent labwork

• The contact information of your hospital physician as well as your future clinic physician.

• Your contact information including home and cell phone numbers, fax number, e-mail, and nearest relative to contact.

• Estimated day of discharge from the hospital and dates of follow-up appointments.

Request our services at our website www.endocrinehelp.com, or fax the registration form to our office at 843-795-4209.

We will contact you on your day of discharge home to introduce ourselves and confirm your current state of heath as well as your medication list. Thereafter, you contact us at intervals to review your glucose numbers until you return to the care of your outpatient physician.

It’s as simple as that!

What happens at the conclusion of the Bridge Program?

We provide a summary of your care to your clinic physician and you will return to their care.

If you wish to continue care with the Endocrine Care Group, you may opt for one of our ongoing Diabetes Management programs. Information on these programs and others be found on our website at www.endocrinehelp.com

Please do not hesitate to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with further questions about the Bridge Program or the other services provided by the Endocrine Care Group.


References:

1)Blondet, JJ, Beilman GJ. Glycemic control and prevention of perioperative infection. Current Opinion Crit care. 2007 August; 13(4): 421-7.

2)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of self-repored cardiovascular disease among persons aged > or = 35 years with diabetes—United States, 1997-2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2007 Nov 2; 56(43):1129-32.

3)Furnary AP,Wu Y. Eliminating the diabetic disadvantage: The Portland Diabetic project. Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2006 Winter; 18(4):302-8.

4)Malone DL, Genuit T. Surgical Site infections:reanalysis of risk factors. Journal of Srug res. 2002 March; 103(1): 89-95.

5)Marston WA;Dermagraft Diabetic Foot Ulcer Study Group. Risk factors associated with healing chronic diabetic foot ulcers:the importance of hyperglycemia. Ostomy Wound Management. 2006 March; 52(3): 26-8,30,32.

6)Streeter NB. Considerations in prevention of surgical site infections following cardiuac surgery: when your patient is diabetic. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 2006 May-June; 21(3): E14-20.

7)Van der Does FE, De Neeling JN. Symptoms and well-being in relation to glycemic control in type ll diabetes. Diabetes care. 1996 March;19(3): 204-10.