Insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a practical approach for primary care physicians and other health care professionals.

The responsibility of diabetes management and insulin therapy has definitively moved to primary care physicians. Within the primary care setting, there is a growing need for clear, evidence-based guidelines related to the management of insulin therapy. Straightforward algorithms regarding insulin initiation, titration, and follow-up management can help physicians effectively treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Once 2 oral diabetic drugs have failed in a patient whose disease duration is 7 to 10 years, use of insulin therapy with a basal insulin analog should be considered. For patients who receive maximal basal insulin doses without reaching fasting blood glucose and target glycated hemoglobin levels with basal insulin analogs, a mealtime-insulin intensification approach should be considered. The authors discuss how simplified insulin initiation and titration regimens allow primary care physicians and other health care professionals to care for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.