Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the IHI Forum, an annual conference that brings together passionate healthcare professionals interested in advancing quality improvement, patient safety, and closing care gaps together. I was inspired by the many ideas shared during keynotes, sessions, and workshops tied to the theme of transforming healthcare by increasing safety, reducing complication severity, and improving sustainability.
My biggest takeaway: the conversation around ROI in healthcare is shifting toward acknowledging that the strongest ROI comes from prioritizing safety and outcomes. When care is safer and complications are reduced, cost savings naturally follow.
The many insights made me think about how digital health technologies, like the Glooko diabetes management platform and EndoTool Glucose Management System, developed by Monarch Medical Technologies, a Glooko Company, can create real, measurable value for hospitals and health systems.
Implementing Digital Solutions to Reduce Costs and Clinical Overhead
To achieve meaningful financial impact, healthcare organizations can map value streams directly to clinical outcomes, an effort that has become very common across the healthcare industry. By improving patient outcomes and reducing the incidence and severity of glycemic events through timely intervention, healthcare providers can shift their focus toward cost avoidance.
This cost-cutting effort is primarily achieved by reducing the frequency of high-cost events like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or severe hypoglycemia, both proven to be reduced through use of the EndoTool inpatient platform, and mitigating the severity of complications. These improvements not only protect patient health, but also significantly lower the financial burden associated with emergency hospitalizations.
From an operational perspective, broader adoption of digital health solutions that integrate seamlessly into EHR systems, like Glooko and EndoTool, drive revenue by minimizing administrative burden and eliminating the physical costs of traditional paper-based documentation. This transition supports a smaller carbon footprint while streamlining Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) cost structures. By automating data entry and refining monitoring systems, hospitals can reduce manual labor hours, alleviate the hidden costs of alarm fatigue, and successfully decrease the average Length of Stay (LOS) for patients.
Advancing Innovation for Better Health Outcomes
In the landscape of modern healthcare rankings, the severity of patient complications has become a defining metric, often accounting for a significant portion of the evaluation of hospitals in reports like U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospital rankings.
To address this, healthcare providers must look beyond basic data collection and focus on innovative digital health tools that actively mitigate these risks. For example, hospital readmissions could be reduced when healthcare providers are issued remote monitoring alerts based on trends in a patient’s health. Doctors may also shorten hospital stays if they have the ability to remotely monitor vitals.
By integrating capabilities like remote monitoring in the Glooko diabetes management platform, clinics can demonstrate a measurable reduction in the severity of outcomes, providing a safer patient experience while potentially strengthening their standing in critical industry benchmarks, including the CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating and Newsweek’s “America’s Best-In-State Hospitals.”
Real impact starts with a deep dive into existing workflows to find and fix hidden gaps in diabetes care. Care teams can map out the root causes of care gaps and pinpoint exactly where digital solutions can bridge them. For instance, Glooko’s acquisition of Monarch Medical Technologies will help bridge the gap between inpatient glycemic management and outpatient diabetes care in the future. This future state, advancing continuity of care, can create a more unified ecosystem that manages diabetes holistically and helps ensure no patients feel isolated in their journey.
Improving the Patient, Family, and Staff Experience
To define success beyond traditional clinical metrics, the focus of ROI must shift toward the holistic quality of life for patients in the hospital or at home and their families.
Our solutions aim to improve the patient experience by shortening hospital stays and fostering a more restorative healing environment. By proactively managing glycemic health and reducing the severity of acute events, we allow patients and their caregivers to focus on recovery and living their life day-to-day rather than the stress of a potential health crisis.
We truly believe clinicians should spend more time with patients and less time with paperwork. That’s why we’ve designed our glycemic and diabetes management solutions with the care teams in mind. By automating data flows and simplifying complex glycemic management, we remove the “manual logistics” and heavy cognitive load that lead to burnout and reduce patient safety.
This efficiency doesn’t just improve the bottom line but could help prevent expensive complications like DKA and severe glycemic events. It creates a sustainable work environment where care teams feel empowered to provide high-value, compassionate care without being tethered to a screen.
Furthering Sustainable Practices through EHR Integrations
Sustainability and person-centered care are inseparable as it is critical we focus on the holistic well-being of the patient and their community.
Sustainability has transitioned from an elective corporate responsibility to a core operational mandate for healthcare executives. For leadership, prioritizing sustainable practices is not just about environmental stewardship. It is a strategic lever for improving patient outcomes, ensuring long-term financial viability and fulfilling the mission of “first, do no harm.”
By digitizing workflows and leveraging built-in EHR integrations, hospitals and clinics can move away from paper-heavy documentation, significantly reducing paper waste and recycling expenses. This transition doesn’t just lower operational costs as it also shrinks the carbon footprint of the practice, aligning financial savings with environmental sustainability.
Glooko and EndoTool help healthcare providers slash overheads by eliminating the physical and environmental burdens of traditional diabetes management through the solutions’ EHR integrations, future-proofing sustainability efforts.
Ready for a Glimpse into the Cost-Efficient Future of Diabetes Care?
Connect with a Glooko rep today to learn how our diabetes and glycemic management solutions can help reduce your costs, while improving health outcomes.
EndoTool is developed and marketed by Monarch Medical Technologies, a Glooko Company. EndoTool is an FDA-cleared Class II medical device indicated for inpatient use as described in its Instructions for Use. Glooko’s diabetes management platform and EndoTool are currently independent solutions.