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Heart Patients Whose Blood Sugar Is Kept Under Good Control in the Days Right After Surgery

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InstitutionRating
U.S. Average184%
N.C. Average276%
Top Hospitals3100%
Duke Raleigh Hospital4n/a
Duke University Hospital91%
Durham Regional Hospital100%

The rates displayed in this graph are for discharges January 2008 through September 2008. Source: hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
(1) The U.S. average includes all reporting hospitals in the United States.
(2) The N.C. average includes all reporting hospitals in the state of North Carolina.
(3) "Top Hospitals" represent the top 10% of hospitals nationwide. These hospitals achieved 100% on this measure.
(4) The number of cases is too small (less than 25) to reliably predict hospital performance.

What Does This Measure?

This measures the percentage of all heart surgery patients whose blood sugar (blood glucose) is kept under good control in the days right after surgery.

Why Is This Important? 

Keeping a heart patient's blood sugar under good control after surgery lowers the risk of infection and other problems -- even if they don't have diabetes. According to hospitalcompare.org, "under good control" means the patient's blood sugar should be 200 mg/dL or less when checked first thing in the morning.

What Are We Doing to Improve Our Performance? 

Duke has enacted several initiatives to improve our performance. These include:

More Information

About This Page

Published: Mar. 23, 2009
Updated: Mar. 23, 2009
URL: http://www.dukehealth.org/AboutDuke/quality/performance_measures/surgery/heart_patients_blood_sugar_is_kept_under_good_control_right_after_surgery