Peers, regulators, and professions: the influence of organizations in intensive insulin therapy adoption.

Following the landmark Leuven study in 2001, health care organizations implemented intensive insulin therapy (IIT) as the standard of care for critically ill patients. However, a recent meta-analysis showed no mortality benefit and an increased safety risk for patients treated with IIT. IIT affects labor and capital decisions related to nurses, physicians, pharmacists, managers, laboratory personnel, and informatics staff. The expenditure of labor and capital to provide IIT without corresponding outcome improvements suggests the adoption of IIT produces inefficiency in hospital.