Economic benefits of intensive insulin therapy in critically Ill patients: the targeted insulin therapy to improve hospital outcomes (TRIUMPH) project.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the economic outcomes of a clinical program implemented to achieve strict glycemic control with intensive insulin therapy in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Research Design And Methods: A difference-in-differences (quasi-experimental) study design was used to examine the associations of an intensive insulin therapy intervention with changes in hospital length of stay (ICU and total), costs (ICU and total), and mortality. Hospital administrative data were obtained for 6,719 adult patients admitted between 2003 and 2005 to one of five intervention or four comparison ICUs in a large academic medical center.