When Seton Medical Center Hays opened in Kyle in 2009, Clinical Pharmacist Betsy Carlisle was asked to launch the Diabetes Consult Service, a pilot program to help the 8.6 percent of Hays County residents who have diabetes. Before the program launched, patients admitted to the hospital with complications from diabetes only received insulin if blood sugar levels were outside of a specific range. Carlisle said the program has renewed a focus on blood sugar levels for the hospital's patients. "If a patient comes in and their blood sugars are high all the time and no one cares about that and they're in a hospital setting, you can't convince them in the outpatient setting that [blood sugars are] important," she said. Now Seton Hays patients' blood sugar levels are carefully monitored throughout their stay, and patients are educated about insulin, medications and other best practices for dealing with diabetes, Carlisle said. Patrick Garcia, vice president of medical affairs at the hospital, said data has supported the success of the program. Of the diabetic patients admitted to two Seton hospitals that did not offer the consult service, only 2 percent had a single healthy blood sugar level reading. Of the patients who participated in the service offered at Seton Hays, 70 percent achieved healthy readings. Carlisle said often she simply has to inform the patients that their health is manageable even though they have diabetes. Because susceptibility to diabetes often runs in families, she said some patients have a misconception that because a relative has had to deal with diabetes complications such as heart disease, lost vision or limb amputation, they will have to have the same struggles. "Unfortunately they don't understand that it can be different for them," she said. "They can have a different path. We have better medications [now]. We understand diabetes a lot better, and they don't have to have the same path that their relatives had."