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.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org