Variance between laboratory and point-of-care testing of blood glucose: Business Intelligence tools for patient safety.

Health information technology generates vast amounts of electronic data in our hospital information systems. Information overload, however, hinders our efforts to use these data to address patient safety issues. This study describes an application of Business Intelligence (BI), a method for leveraging enterprise data, in analyzing clinical data for gaining knowledge about our methods of blood glucose testing at Duke University Hospital. We extracted glucose readings from our data warehouse using a web-based BI tool. We then compared two instruments used to measure blood glucose concentration in neonates, the point-of-care-testing (POCT) device and the gold standard laboratory analyzer. Our results indicate significant variance between the two instruments, suggesting an increased risk of under-diagnosing neonatal hypoglycemia. Hematocrit and hypoglycemia were found to be factors in this variance. We recommend further evaluation of POCT devices, leveraging clinical data, borrowing data management strategies from other industries, and fostering education in medical informatics