Company leader
Patrick Cua
Chief Executive Officer
Glytec
Patrick Cua is chief executive of Glytec, a company whose FDA-cleared software tells hospital nurses how much insulin to give each patient. Cua believes insulin safety should be run like any other hospital safety program, measured across a whole health system and reported to the board.
Starting Out at C.R. Bard
Cua has spent more than 30 years in healthcare, and his career began at C.R. Bard, according to his Glytec biography. From there he moved into disease management, the business of helping people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease stay out of the hospital.
Selling Disease Management Companies
He held leadership roles at CorSolutions, Matria Healthcare, Alere, and Aetna, and took part in a run of sales: CorSolutions to Matria, Matria to Inverness Medical, and Pihms to Aetna. Later he was executive chairman of BioIQ during its sale to LetsGetChecked.
Cua is a certified director of the National Association of Corporate Directors and sits on the board of Gozio Health.
Taking Insulin Safety to the Boardroom
At Glytec he has pitched insulin management as a system-wide safety issue. "Insulin is one of the most common high-risk medications in the hospital," he told Digital Times, and the company's job is to help hospitals "prevent harm." He argues that glucose control reaches every part of a hospital's agenda: "Boards ask about safety, capacity, clinical reputation, and cost. Glycemic management touches all four."
His pitch to hospitals rests on measurement. "No black boxes," he said, adding that with Glytec "every outcome is measured." The argument has new weight now that CMS requires hospitals to report severe low and high blood sugar events as hospital harm measures.