Diabetes Screenings at KVCH

12/28/2009

Kittitas Valley Community Hospital's glycemic management task force and surgical services teamed up in February, 2009 to provide the community with free surgical diabetes screenings. The impetus for this screening was to identify people with pre-diabetes or diabetes while patients were in the care of the hospital.

Mary Jo Morrissey, MS, RD, CDE, director of food and nutrition services and diabetes education at KVCH said, “Permission is obtained from each patient to allow nursing to use a droplet of their blood to screen for diabetes. No additional poke is needed to obtain a patient blood sample.”

The requirements for blood glucose screening are simple. A person must be a patient at KVCH for an inpatient or outpatient surgical or scope service; must be fasting prior to the procedure; must be at least 12 years old of age; and has not been diagnosed with diabetes previously.

The results are staggering. Diabetes scan results for the last 11 months have determined that 46 percent of patients scanned had potential pre-diabetes and 6 percent of patients scanned for potential diabetes. The word “potential” is used because it takes more than one blood glucose test to make accurate diagnosis.

“Diabetes is at epidemic proportions in this country,” said Becky Arington, RNC, diabetes educator at KVCH. “Pre-diabetes is largely associated with an inactive lifestyle, poor eating habits and family history. Diabetes can cause heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and other health problems if not treated.”

According to facts on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site, in 2007, 24 million Americans had diabetes, and with obesity on the rise the CDC expects that millions more are at risk of developing pre-diabetes.

Hope.

Arington and Morrissey said better eating habits, even moderate weight loss and increased physical activity can prevent or delay the onset of pre-diabetes among people at risk. “With this program, we can identify who may be at risk for diabetes and provide them with education to make the right decisions for their health. Many times these results become a wake-up call for patients,” Arington said.

Numbers

Normal blood sugar readings fall between 70 and 100 milligrams/deciliter (mg/ dL). Pre-diabetic results fall between 101-124 mg/dL and diabetes results equal 125 mg/dL or greater. Patients with elevated levels of blood sugar (100-110 mg/dL) are encouraged to get re-screened -- at no charge again-- after their recovery from surgery to see if their levels have changed. “Anxiety and stress prior to surgery can elevate blood sugar results, so we follow up with patients to monitor their blood sugar,” said Arington. She adds that elevated blood sugar could also indicate that your body is on its way to becoming pre-diabetic because it is not processing the sugar as it used to in a stressful situation.

Follow-up

If the result of the screening is over 110 mg/dL, Arington refers the patient to their primary physician so that the patient’s blood sugar can be monitored through the physician’s office. If a patient does not have a primary physician, Arington provides information about the free Ellensburg and Cle Elum health clinics. She also provides information about KVCH’s patient assistance prescription plan that helps uninsured and low income patients obtain prescription medications.

Cost

“Diabetes is a very expensive disease,” said Arington. The diabetes educators added up the expenses of medication, glucose testing strips and equipment that patients may need to monitor and control their diabetes and the cost for diabetes care can as high as $700 per month. The diabetes educators have often times connected uninsured patients with the the free clinic for follow-up care and the KVCH patient assistance prescription plan.

“With this program, we are providing free preventive care and empowering people to take charge of their health,” Morrissey said. KVCH diabetes department also provides free education and support classes to help people manage their disease more effectively. “Unfortunately, insurance agencies do not recognize preventive care for diabetes and so KVCH has taken a proactive approach by developing the diabetes screening process and diabetes education classes to support the community’s health,” said Morrissey.

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Free diabetes re-screening is available at the KVCH Health Library on Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. for patients that have previously been screened prior to a surgical procedure at KVCH. No appointment necessary.

KVCH Health Library is available each weekday and offers personalized assistance to help people find information about diabetes and other medical conditions. Library services are user-friendly and free to the public. For more information, please call 509-962-7433.