Therapeutic inertia related to insulin treatment, i.e. delays in initiation, especially titration of basal insulin, is a significant problem in daily practice in Southeast European countries. This phenomenon can be traced back to several patient-, physician- and health system-related factors. In recognition of the issue of inadequate insulin titration, 11 leading experts from countries in this region held a consensus-seeking meeting to review the current status of insulin initiation after non-insulin treatment and the potential barriers to insulin titration to provide an algorithm and tools for outpatient physicians and for patients aimed at optimizing basal insulin titration. The experts reached a consensus on the majority of the topics and proposed recommendations on how clinical inertia can be overcome. The outcomes of the meeting have been summarized in this paper.
Keywords: Clinical inertia; Insulin initiation; Insulin titration; Type 2 diabetes.