(P313) Engaging Diabetes Champions to Provide Safe Diabetes Care in Hospitals

Adults living with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized than those without diabetes. In 2020, almost 8 million adults with diabetes were discharged from a hospital. Unfortunately, during their hospital stay, they have an increased risk of medication errors, adverse events, and lack of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) leading to an increased length of stay and hospital readmissions. With less than 50% of people with diabetes receiving DSMES in the outpatient setting and only 23.8% of diabetes care and education specialists working in the inpatient setting, it has become increasingly important for diabetes champion programs to be implemented and to increase the engagement of champions to improve patient outcomes. This poster shares best practices for creating an effective inpatient diabetes champion program.