Aim We recently introduced excursions of blood glucose levels outside the normal range (70 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL) as a measure of glucose control in inpatient settings. We here investigate the clinical utility of this metric, and hypothesize that inpatients experiencing excursions incur increased lengths of stay and total costs compared to patients under successful glucose control. Methods Glucometric data were collected from 2023 inpatients from a San Diego hospital between 2009 and 2011. APRDRG

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... odes were consolidated into 11 entry classes and combined with severity illness codes for subsequent analyses. General linear models for length of stay and total costs were devised, based on patient demographic and clinical characteristics as well as occurrences of excursions >180 or <70 mg/dL or both. Results Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study cohort have been reported previously. Median Length of Stay (LOS) was 5.0 days (range 1.1 to 139.4 days, interquartile range 5.6 days); median total cost was $15.7K (range $2.7K to $508.4K, IQ range $19.7K). LOS was not significantly related to gender ( Conclusion After adjusting for entry class, severity of illness, and age, patients exhibiting maximal glucose variability incur longer lengths of stay and higher total costs than other patients.