(P306) Emergency Department Transfer to Outpatient Diabetes Education Prevents Readmissions

The emergency department (ED) is highly over-utilized for treatable and preventable conditions such as diabetes and its complications. According to the CDC, approximately 17 million ED visits involved patients diagnosed with diabetes. Readmissions of people with diabetes reflect negatively on the quality of healthcare delivery and cause an economic strain on the ED. The annual cost of diagnosed diabetes in America was $327 billion, with more than half of the medical expenses spent only on two factors—hospitalizations (30%) and pharmacological treatment for complications (30%). This poster discusses a literature appraisal process conducted by a group of nurse educators to determine if diabetes education with a formal transition of care from the ED setting to an outpatient interdisciplinary team decreases ED readmissions.