80% of GPs Make Mistake On Diabetic's Medications List

Serious news and hopefully a wake-up call for general practitioners: more than 80% of GPs make mistakes on their referral letters for patients with type 2 diabetes with regards to their medication list. The most common error was in the dosage of insulin.
A new study from the NSW and published in the International Journal for Quality Care In Health Care reviewed letters for 300 patients referred out to an outpatient diabetes care center found on average at least 2 mistakes per letter. The most frequently missed item from the letter was the omission of current diabetic medications the patient was taking.
When compared against nurse-patient interviews, 59% of letters forgot medication details, 13% listed medications the patient was not taking, and 25% had incorrect dosages. Roughly 16% of letters had a discrepancy in the type of insulin the patient was using.  
Errors included a patient's glicazide-MR 60mg not being documented in the letter, a letter that stated the patient was taking olmesartan, and a letter that said the patient was taking a metaformin dose of 1500mg when they were really taking 2000mg.
According to the study authors, the mistakes in insulin doses (33%) and types are the most concerning. Discrepancies were typically found in handwritten referral letters for patients using insulin and patients on a higher amount of medications.
Mistakes, especially omissions like these can lead to potentially life threatening drug interactions, as well as unnecessary drug therapy. Additions are dangerous because they can lead to hypoglycemia.
Researchers concluded that diabetes medication documentation by general practitioners was "highly substandard, potentially dangerous, and in need of improvement."
Automated referral letters and inaccurate records could potentially be contributing to the problem, especially if patients went to more than one internal medicine doctor.
Reference: Diabetes Educators Update
If you are a diabetic and do not currently see a podiatrist, call our Glastonbury or Middletown office to make an appointment.
Ayman M. Latif, DPM
Connecticut Foot Care Centers
Diabetic Foot Doctor in CT
Podiatrist in Glastonbury and Middletown, CT
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