The (oh-so dryly named) Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is working to provide the first nationwide certification program for inpatient diabetes care. The purpose of the program - the Advanced Inpatient Diabetes Care Certification Program - will be to encourage both high quality of care and greater standardization of care for diabetes patients in hospital settings. Developing the program is a collaborative effort between the JCAHO and the the American Diabetes Association (ADA), with the program being based upon the ADA's clinical practice guidelines.

Here's why this is important: Obviously, it is to help ensure that individual diabetics get a high level of care when they are admitted to hospital. However, it's also about the big picture of diabetes in this country. With millions of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and numbers only expected to rise over the next generation, quality care in hospitals for diabetes patients will be critical in stemming the tide. The higher the quality of care, the lower the risk of ongoing diabetes-related health complications.