Using Shared Decision-Making to Address Possible Overtreatment in Patients at High Risk for Hypoglycemia: The Veterans Health Administration's Choosing Wisely Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative.

Successful management of patients with diabetes requires individualizing A1C and treatment goals in conjunction with identifying and managing hypoglycemia risk. This article describes the Veterans Health Administration's Choosing Wisely Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative (CW-HSI), a voluntary program that aims to reduce the occurrence of hypoglycemia through shared decision-making about deintensifying diabetes treatment in a dynamic cohort of patients identified as being at high risk for hypoglycemia and potentially overtreated. The CW-HSI incorporates education for patients and clinicians, as well as clinical decision support tools, and has shown decreases in the proportions of high-risk patients potentially overtreated and impacts on the frequency of reported hypoglycemia.

Taking a patient safety approach to an integration of two hospitals.

Background: Consolidation of inpatient care between two acute care medical centers brings many challenges, including an increased risk of an untoward event during patient transfer and impaired hospital performance during the postintegration period. When the Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Chicago integrated two acute medical-surgical inpatient facilities, the challenges intrinsic to simultaneously integrating acute medical-surgical programs and academic training programs necessitated a novel approach. STRATEGIES USED: Several patient safety-related tools were used for the safe transfer of patients and for sustaining hospital performance after integration.