The Journey from Glucommander Champion to Glytec Employee: Sylvia Elledge

Sylvia Elledge recently joined Glytec as our newest Clinical Customer Success Manager.  Sylvia previously served as a Process Improvement Specialist RN at AdventHealth, where she oversaw all glycemic management data and managed the Glycemic Quality Committee and Glycemic Champions Team at the Daytona Beach facility. During her time at AdventHealth, Sylvia was heavily involved with the implementation and sustainment of IV Glucommander. She spent more than five years on the corporate Glycemic Collaborative and was a member of their IV Glucommander Optimization Sub-committee. We sat down with her to discuss her journey from Glucommander champion to Glytec employee. 

Why did you choose to come to Glytec?

My connection to Glytec goes back more than five years ago when I helped launch IV Glucommander at AdventHealth Daytona Beach. In my role as a Process Improvement Specialist RN, I made it our facility’s goal to provide safe and effective glycemic management care to each of our patients. My involvement with the corporate Glycemic Collaborative and corporate IV Glucommander Optimization Sub-Committee allowed me to share best practices from my facility and learn from others, which allowed me to better educate our frontline and improve patient outcomes. My interactions with Glytec and its committees were always positive, and I always felt the company and I were on a shared path and mission.

After more than a decade in acute care, it was time for me to move on. My passion for healthcare quality, patient safety, and delivering personalized care to anyone with glycemic management needs had grown exponentially, and I wanted to surround myself with a like-minded team. As the years passed, with each interaction between our hospital and Glytec liaison, I sensed that Glytec provided an extremely positive and supportive environment. I knew that Glytec could be the team I yearned to be a part of, and I couldn’t be happier to have joined such a talented and dedicated group of individuals.

When it comes to glycemic management and technology, what would you consider to be the top lessons you learned in the hospital setting? 

There are several valuable lessons I learned during my time at AdventHealth, but there are five that stand out above all the others:

1. Having an engaged Glycemic Steering Committee is crucial. This multidisciplinary committee is vital to a well-run glycemic management program. It might be necessary to refresh this committee at times to have diverse points of view and ensure it represents relevant roles across a health system.
2. Maintain up-to-date resources for staff. Health systems and their facilities should provide onboarding classes for all staff to learn how to order and use Glucommander and provide the option of refresher courses. This ensures clinicians are informed of the latest updates and can continue adhering to best practices.
3. Learn to trust Glucommander. It is imperative that clinicians learn to trust Glucommander and follow the personalized hypoglycemia recommendations that are developed for each patient. The product analyzes data and information from the patient’s entire stay. If you choose to bypass the recommendation, turn off the drip or discontinue Glucommander abruptly, the resulting patient data will be limited, and you will be unable to rely on your glucometrics moving forward.
4. Lock arms with your Clinical Customer Success Manager. As the glycemic management data lead, it was important for me to stay closely aligned with my Clinical Customer Success Manager (CCSM) to serve as both the spokesperson and liaison for our facility. This meant communicating feedback from our end-users to our CCSM and letting them know what our needs were. I also ensured our CCSM had up-to-date contact information for our facility, which is key for Glytec to know whom to reach out to when necessary.

What stood out the most about AdventHealth’s partnership with Glytec compared to other vendors?

First and foremost, it was Glytec’s customer service. They were there whenever we needed support troubleshooting an issue. Whether it was password resets or Glucommander patient audits, my interactions with the Glytec team were always positive. 

Glytec’s wealth of knowledge was also unique compared to other vendors I worked with. The breadth and depth of Glytec’s subject matter experts is something that most acute care facilities don’t have access to. They make support resources such as literature and evidence-based practices readily and easily accessible, which only increased my confidence in the product and comfort with the company.

Now that you’re part of the Glytec team, what are you most looking forward to in your new role?

I’m excited to use my first-hand experience with Glucommander to help educate clients and partners. This includes using the product data in conjunction with any available facility data to establish glycemic management performance benchmarks to carry out process improvements and superb utilization. 

I’m also eager to help our clients improve their glycemic management care delivery. My familiarity and experience with tools such as Model for Improvement and PDSA, combined with the newest capabilities I’m learning about as a CCSM, has me uniquely positioned to provide exceptional customer service. I look forward to utilizing my background and ongoing training to positively impact patients across the country receiving inpatient care for their diabetes.

Our final question is one that uses your past experiences to help inform future decisions. If you were starting your technology-driven glycemic management journey today, what is something you believe would be beneficial to hear?

I was fortunate to work in a large health system that captured a tremendous amount of high-level clinical outcomes data. I could drill down into this information and use it to evaluate healthcare quality, patient safety and process improvement needs down to specific inpatient units. That said, I understand not all organizations starting their technology-driven glycemic management journeys have these resources available to them. If you do, then I strongly advise their utilization. If you don’t, I recommend you reach up to your facility leadership. Help them understand that internal data in combination with the phenomenal product resources that Glytec puts at your fingertips will truly assist your facility’s glycemic management improvement goals.  

Every hospital starting its technology-driven glycemic management journey must understand that Glytec has already done the heavy lifting for you. Do not spend time and valuable resources attempting to recreate the wheel when it is already available to you as a Glytec customer. Glucommander has education modules, pocket cards and tip sheets ready for use upon deployment. There’s also basic diabetes education that your entire facility can benefit from regardless of Glucommander usage. I implore you to take advantage of the resources and tools Glytec has put in place for you. Add these to your internal learning systems and to staff competencies.  And encourage everyone to attend the Time to Target conference. It’s free and virtual, which allows staff members to learn about relevant glycemic management topics at their own pace.

I would also express the importance of evaluating the tools you’ve put in place for your frontline staff and not assume that the processes and procedures established during Glucommander implementation are still being adhered to. Hospital staff turnover continues to be at an all-time high, and insulin is among high-alert medications that can contribute to Adverse Drug Events. It is imperative that the frontline staff using Glucommander are properly trained and continuously retrained.

Finally, do not be afraid to ask questions at any subsequent follow-ups. This is something I did, and I’d advise you to continue asking questions. Remember, your journey is not about your work. It’s about the impact you will make in your community with better glycemic management. So, learn as much as you can and remember not to be intimidated.

To learn more about Sylvia while she was using Glucommander at Advent Health, check out her customer video interview here.

Sylvia will also be featured at our free virtual conference Time to Target as a speaker on our Glycemic Management Committee Session. Time to Target is a free virtual conference on glycemic innovation and collaboration. Register here.