What You Should Know:

–              Intuity Medical, Inc., a medical technology company committed to making it easier to live with diabetes, announced today that its POGO Automatic® Blood Glucose Monitoring (ABGM) system, featuring one-step testing, is now covered by Medicare Part B. This decision expands access to the innovative monitor for the 16.5 million seniors age 65 and up living with diabetes.

–              The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) created two new coverage codes specifically for POGO Automatic, recognizing this new and significantly different technology compared to traditional blood glucose meters (BGMs). POGO Automatic features an all-in-one design that integrates testing supplies into a 10-test cartridge.

Advancing Diabetes Management: POGO Automatic Blood Glucose Monitoring System

POGO Automatic, the pioneering and sole FDA-cleared automatic blood glucose monitoring (ABGM) system available, revolutionizes diabetes management. It enables people with diabetes (PWD) to effortlessly test their glucose levels without disrupting their daily routines. This one-step process automates the multi-step glucose monitoring associated with traditional BGMs, particularly aiding seniors in checking their blood glucose more easily.

Endorsed as the optimal solution for numerous diabetes patients by Rosemarie Lajara, MD, an endocrinologist at Southern Endocrinology & Diabetes Associates, P.A. in Plano, Texas, POGO Automatic is recognized by healthcare professionals for its user-friendly design, which can enhance testing compliance. Dr. Lajara emphasizes the significance of such innovation for diabetes patients, especially within the Medicare population, which often includes individuals facing dexterity, visual, or physical challenges hindering traditional self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) meters.

Automating blood glucose testing steps addresses an unmet need for many patients who struggle with handling traditional blood glucose meters, test strips, lancets, and lancing devices. The introduction of new coverage codes—Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes E2104 for the monitor for use with integrated lancing/blood sample testing cartridge and A4271 for the integrated lancing and blood sample testing cartridges—enables Medicare beneficiaries, who previously lacked access to this new technology, to acquire POGO Automatic under their Medicare Part B coverage.

Intuity Medical, Inc., founded with the mission of simplifying life for people with diabetes, introduced the FDA-cleared POGO Automatic® Blood Glucose Monitoring System. This innovative system streamlines testing with its all-in-one design, eliminating the need for separate strips and lancets. Manufactured in the U.S., POGO Automatic cartridges are produced at the company’s headquarters in Fremont, California.

What You Should Know:

– Digital diabetes management tools are failing to deliver meaningful health benefits to patients, according to a new evaluation by the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI).

– The report casts doubt on the effectiveness of widely used digital diabetes management tools. Despite billions in investment, the study finds these tools offer minimal health benefits and actually increase healthcare spending.

Millions Rely on Tools, But Evidence Shows Little Impact

The PHTI analysis focused on eight popular tools for tracking blood sugar (non-continuous glucose monitors) used by people with Type 2 diabetes. While these tools promise better health outcomes and cost savings, the research paints a different picture:

• Small, Unsustained Improvements: HbA1c reductions, a key diabetes measure, were minimal (0.23 to 0.60%) and didn’t last over time. These results fall short of the industry standard for meaningful change.
• No Broader Health Benefits: The study found no significant improvements in weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, or other diabetes-related health factors.
• Increased Costs for All Payers: The price of these tools outweighs any cost savings because the minimal benefits don’t prevent other treatments or care. Annual spending is projected to increase across all insurance types:
  • Commercial: +$2,002
  • Medicare: +$1,011
  • Medicaid: +$723

Bright Spots and Recommendations

The report identifies two potential areas for improvement:

• Virta’s Nutritional Ketosis Approach: Early data suggests Virta’s program, which requires strict dietary changes, may lead to diabetes remission for some patients.
• Early Intervention with High-Risk Patients: Digital tools might be more impactful for newly diagnosed patients with high starting HbA1c levels, helping them establish better self-management habits.

PHTI offers recommendations for the future of digital diabetes management:

• Focus on Clinically Meaningful Benefits: New tools should aim for substantial HbA1c improvements, potentially integrating continuous glucose monitors and new medications.
• Rigorous Evidence for Adoption: Developers need to generate stronger evidence to justify wider use.
• Prioritize Access and Affordability: Solutions should be accessible for those who need them most and come at a lower cost than standard care.

Moving Forward: Transparency and Better Tools

The PHTI report calls for more transparency from providers and payers:

• Providers: Doctors need clear information on tool performance before recommending them to patients.
• Payers: Health plans and employers should require evidence of tool benefits and tie financial coverage to clinical outcomes.

“When these digital diabetes management tools launched more than a decade ago, they promised to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes and deliver savings to payers. Based on the scientific evidence, these solutions have fallen short, and it is time to move toward the next generation of innovation,” said Caroline Pearson, executive director of PHTI. “Patients with diabetes invest time, energy, and resources in these tools, and they deserve to experience meaningful, positive benefits for their health. The healthcare sector as a whole needs transparent, accurate information about the clinical and economic impact of these digital tools that are taking up precious healthcare dollars.”

This research aims to guide healthcare decision-making and accelerate the development of truly effective digital solutions for diabetes management. PHTI plans to conduct similar evaluations for virtual physical therapy, blood pressure monitoring, and mental health tools.

Click here for more information about the report.

What You Should Know:

• Welldoc®, a digital health leader revolutionizing chronic care, today announced the receipt of its 11th 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its award-winning diabetes digital health solution, BlueStar®.
• This clearance immediately follows Welldoc’s 10th 510K clearance announcement earlier this month, solidifying the company’s continued leadership in chronic care innovation.

A Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Informed Bolus Insulin Dose Calculator added to Welldoc’s diabetes digital health platform, BlueStar

Welldoc’s latest 510(k) enables BlueStar to provide bolus insulin dose recommendations based on the most recent glucose reading and rate of change from a compatible CGM device. This feature enhances BlueStar’s existing digital coaching capabilities, which guide dietary and lifestyle decisionsandassistindividualsinself-managingtheirdiabetes. Welldocisthefirstcompanyto receive clearance for a CGM-informed bolus calculator specifically designed for adults who manage their diabetes with multiple daily injections of insulin.

“This 11th 510(k) clearance is a remarkable achievement for Welldoc and demonstrates our steadfast commitment to transforming chronic care. We are dedicated to creating new digital health capabilities which leverage the latest innovations like CGM to develop more connected and personalized solutions for individuals with complex health needs,” said Kevin McRaith, President and CEO of Welldoc.

Welldoc’s comprehensive chronic care platform provides multi-condition support across pre- diabetes, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, weight and obesity management, and mental wellbeing. Welldoc’s flagship product, BlueStar® guides individuals through the complicated journey of living with diabetes by enabling them to self-manage their care while enhancing connections to their healthcare team.

Welldoc partners with health plans, health systems and employers with the goal of extending care, improving health and reducing costs. CGM continues to grow in utilization across broader populations living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This enhanced functionality will help the organizations who support these populations provide extended diabetes management services and care.

What You Should Know: 

Rimidi, a clinical management platform designed to optimize clinical workflows, enhance patient experiences and achieve quality objectives, is announcing enhancements to its diabetes management platform, including the addition of Glycemic Risk Index (GRI) as an emerging tool for patient and population outcomes management.

The inclusion of CGM data and GRI into Rimidi’s platform and clinical workflows is made possible via an enhanced integration with Dexcom, a global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for people with diabetes. Through the collaboration, glycemic control metrics will enable more proactive and personalized management of diabetes across populations to drive better care decisions. 

Enhanced Metrics to Advance Care Management

Specifically, the Rimidi diabetes management platform will now include metrics for: 

• Time in Range (TIR): The amount of time a patient spends in the target blood glucose range during a specified time period, often two weeks. For most patients, this is between 70 and 180 mg/dL, and is a measurement that leverages CGM data to see the number of times a patient’s blood glucose level has stayed in the target range vs. been high (hyperglycemia) or low (hypoglycemia). TIR is considered the gold standard of CGM data management and interpretation today. Rimidi presents the TIR for target glucose as well as additional categories of low, very low, high and very high glucose. 
• Glycemic Risk Index: A new actionable metric for describing the quality of glycemia in CGM tracking, developed by the Diabetes Technology Society. This metric can be used to assess how well a patient is doing over time, manage a population and predict outcomes in intervention studies. The composite score is also thought to better correlate with the risk of complications and help identify areas for therapy adjustment. The use of GRI in clinical practice is just beginning to gain adoption. 

“As continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) gains broader adoption and becomes standard of care in patients with Type 2 Diabetes and primary care, clinicians need strategies for effectively triaging their growing population of patients using CGM and identifying appropriate steps to improve glycemic control,” said Lucienne Ide, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Rimidi. “GRI is an exciting new tool in the toolkit for clinicians and Rimidi is committed to bringing this innovation into the clinical workflow.”

What You Should Know:

– In an effort to make blood glucose data more actionable for providers and patients alike, Rimidi, a leading clinical management platform announced its integration with the ARKRAY GLUCOCARD® Shine Connex Blood Glucose Monitoring System to Rimidi’s Platform.

– The integration enables providers to manage blood-glucose control more proactively within existing workflows, thus boosting patient adherence.

Blood Glucose Data Directly Embedded in EHR

Diabetes is the most expensive chronic condition in the nation, with more than $237 billion spent each year on direct medical costs, and another $90 billion on reduced productivity. With over 37 million people in the U.S. currently living with the condition, patients must have access to reliable and affordable blood glucose monitoring systems. The integration between Rimidi and ARKRAY enables providers to see blood glucose data in their EHR existing workflows, thus providing a more comprehensive view of patients’ health, and in turn driving better clinical decisions. For example, providers are alerted when a patient has an out-of-range reading or has not taken their blood-glucose in a certain amount of time, prompting them to follow up with their patient accordingly.

“With a large portion of the U.S. population living with diabetes, and a significant amount living in areas with poor cellular service, patients need devices that they can rely on to monitor their conditions without having to schedule an in-person appointment with their provider,” said Lucienne Ide, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Rimidi. “Through our partnership with ARKRAY, we’re tackling these challenges head on, ensuring more patients and providers have the tools they need to properly monitor conditions and make actionable insights that improve health outcomes.”

What You Should Know:

– 9am.health today announced it is expanding its virtual diabetes clinic through a strategic partnership with Ascensia to add the CONTOUR®NEXT ONE Blood Glucose Meter to Its patient toolkit.

– 9am.health patients can now conveniently add Ascensia Diabetes Care’s blood glucose meter and test strips to their personalized treatment plan, with the meter offered free of charge to all patient care plans. The test strip add-on is available through a monthly or quarterly subscription alongside their existing care plan for diabetes medications and ongoing medical care. Additionally, patients can further supplement their plan with a one-time order of a lancing device and lancets.

Making Blood Glucose Testing More Affordable

Regular self-monitoring of blood glucose can be critical to managing diabetes and preventing complications, but many insurance plans still ration test strips or, if paid out of pocket, add to the monthly costs burdened on people living with diabetes. At $15 per month, blood glucose testing is more affordable through 9am.health compared to popular offline and online retailers and pharmacies. Furthermore, easy online ordering with a subscription at 9am.health can save patients the time and hassle of obtaining and reordering supplies.

Pricing

Patients can now add a free CONTOUR®NEXT ONE blood glucose meter and 100- 300 test strips to their 9am.health personalized treatment plan. The offer is available to patients who have a quarterly subscription. 

· 100 test strips every 3 months at $15 per month

· 200 test strips every 3 months at $30 per month

· 300 test strips every 3 months at $45 per month

A pack of 100 lancets can be added at a one-time cost of $13.

“Answers for health questions shouldn’t be collected and forgotten between appointments, medications shouldn’t be another errand, and prescriptions shouldn’t be interrupted because of a busy schedule. We take on more of this burden, so our patients can lean back and have their medications, supplies, lab tests, and health team brought to them”, said Frank Westermann, Co-Founder and co-CEO of 9am.health. “The availability of blood glucose meters has been repeatedly requested by our customers from the very beginning, and we are proud to have partnered with Ascensia to provide their exceptional CONTOUR®NEXT ONE meter.”

What You Should Know:

– Glooko, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of remote patient monitoring and chronic care management solutions including diabetes and obesity, today announced that they have raised a $30 million Series D round of funding. The funding was led by Health Catalyst Capital along with participation from existing investors Canaan Partners, Georgian, Novo Nordisk, Insulet and Mayo Clinic.

– Glooko plans to use these proceeds from this funding to accelerate organic growth and strategic initiatives across the company’s broad and growing product line of advanced digital health solutions.

– Founded in 2010, Glooko’s software platforms empower diabetes management by collecting and unlocking the power of data from blood-glucose meters, CGMs, insulin pumps, pens, and activity trackers – bringing insights together in one place. Data is easily uploaded – remotely via app or in-clinic, securely shared, and visualized in actionable charts and graphs. This creates a solid foundation enabling collaboration and confident treatment decisions. The platforms are compatible with the vast majority of diabetes devices available, giving people with diabetes and their care teams the freedom of choice.

– To date, over 3 million users have benefited from diabetes data insights using Glooko’s solutions, which are trusted by world leaders in diabetes care, and used in 27 countries across 20 languages.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to put an unprecedented amount of strain on the entire healthcare sector, and the industry has responded by accelerating the ways innovation is developed and adopted. Health leaders have faced a generational challenge and the result has been the rapid deployment of technology to address dire patient needs. Health systems, physicians, and frontline staff pulled together in remarkable fashion to implement these emerging technologies that enhance the ways patients access and receive care. 

The global health crisis also illuminated the severity of worse outcomes for patients with underlying conditions and comorbidities, and providers now have a deeper understanding of how they impact overall health. Diabetes and poor glycemic management have emerged as crucial underlying conditions that have negatively affected patient outcomes during the pandemic. While it has long been associated with worse outcomes, higher readmission rates, and increased cost of care, mounting research has shown that uncontrolled glycemia has led to higher mortality rates for hospitalized patients regardless of a pre-existing diabetes diagnosis. It is critically important that we are able to take lessons learned from this pandemic and apply them in the year ahead. 

Here are four key innovations in diabetes care and technology that will emerge as a result of a tumultuous year where the industry faced many challenges but also learned so much more.

1. FDA Clearance for Hospital CGMs Just Got Halved

Before COVID, FDA clearance for the use of Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) in the hospital seemed at least five years away. The pandemic fueled trial adoption of this powerful technology through an emergency allowance that helped limit providers’ exposure to patients and conserves PPE while maintaining proper glucose management. In 2021, I believe we’ll see a wealth of data and retrospective studies from these real-world implementations that will help accelerate the timeline for the official FDA clearance of in-hospital CGM use. This reality may now come to fruition in just 2-3 years instead of the 4-6 that many predicted not long ago. 

2. Pandemic Sparks Improvement in Real-Time Patient Dashboards 

Electronic Health Records are full of data, but information overload and inefficient usage often lead to underutilized intelligence across departments. The pandemic sparked a change, forcing hospitals to create COVID-19 dashboards that offered real-time views of infected patients, their location, and treatment plans. In 2021, I expect to see hospitals expanding these dashboards to optimize data use and track significant disease states, including heart failure, pneumonia, diabetes, and more. 

3. Blood Glucose Becomes the Next Vital Sign 

Today, body temperature, pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure are the four main vital signs healthcare providers monitor. As research continues to confirm the impact blood sugar has on patient mortality – especially those hospitalized with COVID-19 –  and the use of glucose telemetry systems rise, providers will expand their vital checklist to include glycemic monitoring. Eventually, I believe blood glucose levels will be added as the fifth main vital sign. 

4. Advances in Consumer Diabetes Tech Drives Hospitals to Do Better

Diabetes is the only chronic disease where a patient is in charge of their own care, and people living with diabetes assumed even more responsibility in 2020 as the pandemic dissuaded them from routine provider visits. From CGMs and mobile applications to smart insulin pens and the prospect of closed-loop systems, consumer diabetes technology has rapidly outpaced what providers use in the inpatient setting. Today, many health systems still rely on homegrown algorithms, finger pricks, and paper protocols to manage diabetes in the inpatient setting. In 2021, I expect patients will demand better care in the hospital because of the tech they use at home, creating a groundswell of change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven just how quickly the healthcare industry can identify and execute innovative methods to improve patient outcomes. Much like the industry as a whole, diabetes care and management have also accelerated the pace in which it widely accepts and utilizes emerging technology. Insulin has been in use for nearly a century, and there are still 80,000 amputations because of uncontrolled blood glucose, 60,000 people who lose kidney function and need dialysis, and 5,000 people who are blinded each year because of their diabetes. 

Seizing the lessons we’ve learned this year will help to force an important inflection point in glycemic and diabetes care. Key stakeholders will use this window of opportunity to reduce provider burden, decrease patient length of stay, and lower the overall cost of diabetes on the healthcare industry, and ultimately consumers. These four innovations are an ideal place to start. 

About Jordan Messler, MD

Jordan Messler, MD, SFHM, FACP is the Executive Director, Clinical Practice with Glytec. He trained in internal medicine at Emory University in Atlanta and subsequently served as an academic hospitalist at Emory University for several years after residency. He is the former medical director for the Morton Plant Hospitalist group in Clearwater, Florida (serving BayCare Health), where he continues to work as a hospitalist. He is the current physician editor for the Society of Hospital Medicine’s (SHM) blog, The Hospital Leader.

What You Should Know:

–  Humana Healthy Horizons™ in Kentucky announced it has selected Vida Health’s virtual diabetes management program to serve Kentucky’s Medicaid population.

– Vida’s diabetes management program achieves lasting results for participants. Because chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension often occur simultaneously, Vida’s unique program was built from the ground up to treat multiple conditions at the same time.

– The new partnership, which will launch in January of 2021, allows eligible individuals access to Vida’s group diabetes coaching, in-app peer group support, digital therapeutics for diabetes and co-occurring chronic conditions, and more to help them manage their diabetes and their whole health.

– Kentucky has the seventh highest prevalence of diabetes of any state with 13.7% of the adult population reporting having the disease, well above the U.S. average of 10.9%. The percent of Kentuckians with diabetes has more than doubled since 2000 when only 6.5% of the population reported having been diagnosed. Additionally, about two thirds of adult Kentuckians are considered overweight or obese which increases the risk of Type II Diabetes among other chronic illnesses.

– The mobile-first experience is uniquely personalized to each user through a combination of provider expertise and machine learning algorithms that utilize data from 100+ app and device integrations, as well as biometric data, and more to personalize the program and content. The program addresses the root causes behind an individual’s diabetes, and, using the power of human connection, psychology, and nutritional expertise, Vida drives long-term behaviors that shift the course of the disease.

What You Should Know:

– Virta is expanding its suite of treatment options to include prediabetes reversal, obesity reversal, and type 2 diabetes management.

– By making this crucial expansion, Virta can scale its treatment to support the tens of millions of additional patients with prediabetes and obesity, as provide an on-ramp to reversal for those with T2D that aren’t yet ready to reverse. 

Virta Health, the leader in type 2 diabetes reversal, today introduced the addition of new services including prediabetes reversal, obesity treatment, and provider-led management for type 2 diabetes. The expansion provides payers and covered beneficiaries a single, full-service virtual clinic that offers industry-leading outcomes for the most critical needs in metabolic health.

Virta’s fully-virtual, high-touch model demonstrates hope for change, and stands in stark contrast to approaches that only slow the diabetes downward spiral, as opposed to reversing it. Virta provides individualized guidance from medical providers and behavioral specialists, whenever and wherever it is needed. Patients interact with their dedicated clinical team often multiple times per day. This novel telehealth approach—called Continuous Remote Care—ensures successful adoption of Virta’s individualized medical nutrition therapies and long-lasting results.

Why It Matters

Nearly half of adults in the United States suffer from obesity, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes. Thirty people die per hour of diabetes-related causes. The economic burden continues to grow, and people with diabetes incur nearly $17,000 in medical expenses per year. They are also at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19, and risk of dying from the disease is twice as high compared to those without diabetes.

Obesity and prediabetes patients will benefit from the same treatment that delivers the sustained type 2 diabetes reversal outcomes in Virta’s clinical trial and commercially-covered population. Patients receiving type 2 diabetes management will receive support from a provider-led care team, with personalized guidance and an option for a seamless transition to Virta’s reversal treatment. All patients will receive individualized care via Virta’s provider-led Continuous Remote Care platform.

Virta Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Results

Virta’s results in type 2 diabetes reversal have fueled continued triple-digit year-over-year growth for the company while creating strong demand to bring Virta’s evidence-based approach to other metabolic conditions. In Virta’s peer-reviewed clinical trial results, 60% of people at one-year reverse type 2 diabetes, and 94% reduce insulin use or eliminate it altogether.

Additionally, patients completing one year of the Virta Treatment experience 14% weight loss. This figure exceeds the goal of the National Diabetes Prevention Program and the FDA benchmark for weight loss drugs by nearly 200%.

“This expansion provides our commercial partners and patients with the transformational outcomes they’ve come to expect from Virta, but don’t receive from other solutions on the market,” said Sami Inkinen, CEO & co-founder of Virta Health. “We can now meet every patient wherever they are on their metabolic health journey, while uniquely offering a path to reversing their chronic disease.”

What You Should Know:

– Today, Medtronic announced that it will acquire Companion Medical, the manufacturer of InPen, a smart insulin pen system paired with an integrated diabetes management app.

– The addition of Companion’s InPen system builds upon Medtronic’s strategic acquisitions of Nutrino and Klue to further improve overall automated decision-making capabilities and optimizes dosing decisions using algorithms and AI for patients.

Medtronic, today announced the planned acquisition of privately-held Companion Medical, manufacturer of InPen — the only U.S. FDA-cleared smart insulin pen system paired with an integrated diabetes management app on the market. The addition of Companion Medical’s InPen to the Medtronic portfolio expands the company’s ability to serve people where they are in their diabetes journey and offer them a unique and expansive ecosystem of support — regardless of how insulin is delivered.

FDA-Cleared Smart Pen System

The InPen dose calculator recommends a personalized dose based on your blood glucose, the carbohydrates you’re eating, and your active insulin. The calculator is customizable — choose between three different modes depending on whether you count carbs or not.

InPen is the only smart pen system that tracks active insulin. At any time, you can check the app and see how much insulin is still active in your body from previous doses. InPen uses this information to let you know if you need a correction dose and to help you avoid stacking.

Acquisition Expands Medtronic Capabilities to Serve People Using Multiple Daily Injections (MDI) to Manage Diabetes

The acquisition of Companion Medical builds upon prior Medtronic strategic acquisitions, including Nutrino and Klue, that form the building blocks to design powerful algorithms leveraging the company’s deep data science and AI capabilities. With this latest acquisition, Medtronic will work to further advance the automation of insights and dosing capabilities to help alleviate burden regardless of the technology that’s preferred for insulin delivery. In addition, Medtronic will look to expand the availability of InPen globally.

“This acquisition is an ideal strategic fit for Medtronic as we further simplify diabetes management and improve outcomes by optimizing dosing decisions for the large number of people using multiple daily injection (MDI). We look forward to building upon the success of the InPen by combining it with our intelligent algorithms to deliver proactive dosing advice personalized to each individual. This smart CGM system can help people think less about diabetes and be able to live life with more freedom, on their own terms,” said Sean Salmon, executive vice president and president of the Diabetes Group at Medtronic. ”Our goal is to become a trusted partner that offers consistent support whether an individual wants to stay on MDI, transition to automated insulin delivery or take a break from their pump.”

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close within one to two months – subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to be neutral to Medtronic’s adjusted earnings per share in the current fiscal year, and accretive thereafter.

“We are thrilled to be combining our strengths and differentiated product portfolios to work towards serving even more people around the world living with diabetes in the ways that matter most to them,” said Sean Saint, CEO and co-founder of Companion Medical. “Simplifying diabetes management to reduce burden and improve outcomes has always been our goal, and through a respected global leader like Medtronic, we’ll now be able to take InPen to this next phase of growth which is great news for people with diabetes who stand to benefit most.”

What You Should Know:

– DreaMed Diabetes, the developer of personalized, AI-based diabetes management solutions, will participate in a clinical study, led by Jaeb Center for Health Research Foundation, to evaluate the efficacy of virtual treatment for diabetes patients. The research is funded by a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. 

– DreaMed uses AI-powered technology to seamlessly treat patients remotely with its virtual diabetes management service by providing personalized recommendations on insulin dosage for people with type 1 diabetes.

– As part of Helmsley’s research, the study will determine if the virtual clinic model improves clinical and psychological outcomes for people with diabetes. DreaMed, with Cecilia Health, will provide a multi-faceted platform to fully evaluate the effectiveness of virtual clinics using DreaMed’s technology. 

DreaMed Diabetes Ltd., the developer of personalized, AI-based diabetes management solutions, announces it will be serving as a subcontractor on a $5,025,099 grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to the Jaeb Center for Health Research Foundation.  DreaMed’s technology will include a comprehensive data system that can pull information from CGM, SMBG, insulin pumps, and connected insulin pens. It will visualize this information for the healthcare provider and for the participants through web and mobile applications as well as operate decision support algorithms to optimize insulin treatment plans for people with type 1/type 2 on insulin pumps or multiple daily injections therapy. 

Growing Need for Virtual Diabetes Care

Due to the sheer size of the United States, many people with diabetes lack the necessary medical support required, particularly access to endocrinologists who provide them with critical guidance and information. This includes the overseeing of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), insulin-dosing support, and pertinent mental health support. The lack of support alongside today’s social distancing guidelines has encouraged a host of remote medical initiatives, many of which aim to provide people with diabetes a comprehensive virtual solution. While virtual solutions have proved exciting, questions remain as to whether virtual care, including CGM, provides better outcomes than traditional methods.

Jaeb Center’s Pilot Study

In January 2019, the Jaeb Center’s pilot study assessed whether CGM could be successfully introduced outside of a clinic over a three-month period. The results found participants using CGM received personalized support, enabling them to improve their glycemic outcomes and quality of life. While the study proved invaluable, there was a need for a larger study that truly evaluates the efficacy of remote diabetes care, which will be accomplished within the scope of this new grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to the Jaeb Center.

New Study Explores the Efficacy of Virtual Diabetes Care

The new study represents a more rigorous model for analyzing virtual diabetes management, because it will evaluate CGM use over time, glycemic- and participant-reported outcomes, healthcare utilization and cost, the use of decision support tools, and the impact of mental health support.

Jaeb will evaluate the efficacy of a virtual specialty clinic model for improving clinical and psycho-social outcomes for people with diabetes. This evaluation will include 300 patients who don’t currently utilize CGM, with type 1 and type 2 diabetes nationwide over the course of a six-month period. To integrate the virtual management of insulin dosage, the initiative will utilize the DreaMed Advisor Platform, which gives providers a way to view and manage recommendations.

For the first time, DreaMed Advisor’s state-of-the-art cloud-based technology will provide, in this study, personalized recommendations on insulin dosage for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes treated with insulin pumps or multiple daily injections. The investigational version of DreaMed Advisor will also manage the virtual presentation of data  derived from CGM, glucometers, insulin pumps, and connected insulin pens. Furthermore, the platform supports virtual communications of new treatment plans as well as a virtual clinic team, which provides behavioral health coaching to help participants address certain diabetes-related challenges.

“We are thrilled to be involved in Jaeb’s VDiSC study,” says Eran Agmon, Chief Product Officer of DreaMed Diabetes. “Virtual care is the future of medicine, and the technology is ripe for deployment in diabetes. We are confident in the model and proud that our technology is providing the support necessary to enable its implementation”

What You Should Know:

– Current Health has partnered with Dexcom to add continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) capabilities to its remote patient monitoring (RPM) platform – enhancing care and improving outcomes for diabetics.

– Dexcom CGM data will transmit directly into the Current Health wearable and platform for review by the care management and clinical teams, improving post-discharge and chronic care of diabetes patients outside the hospital.

– Through this partnership, Current Health is now able to offer a complete view of patients’ health indicators, no matter where that patient is located – a critical need as keeping patients out of the hospital is even more important than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic. With these insights, healthcare providers are able to proactively address issues associated with diabetes and provide the best possible care.

 Current Health today announced it has partnered with Dexcom to add continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) capabilities to Current Health’s AI-powered remote patient monitoring (RPM) platform. By continuously monitoring patients’ glucose levels – largely considered the fifth vital sign – the Current Health platform will empower health systems to secure actionable and comprehensive insights into overall patient health, resulting in improved patient outcomes and decreased healthcare costs.

Integration Details

As part of the integration, Dexcom CGM data will transmit directly into the Current Health wearable and platform for review by the care management and clinical teams, improving post-discharge and chronic care of diabetes patients outside the hospital. Dexcom and Current Health is supplied pre-configured and ready to go out of the box with a setup time of less than 5 minutes, the patient applies Dexcom and the Current Health wearable, so continuous vitals and continuous glucose are immediately available for review by the care management or clinical team. The integration will be an optional add-on for patients using the Current Health wearable, offered first to patients with diabetes. The integration will become widely available later this year.

COVID-19 Underscores Need for Continuous Glucose Monitoring

With an estimated 463 million people across the globe – or one out of every 11 adults – suffering from diabetes, health systems need insight into patients’ whole health – including glucose levels – to best manage at-risk patients. With people with diabetes particularly vulnerable to a variety of illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, nerve damage and Alzheimer’s disease – not to mention COVID-19 – healthcare providers need to be able to continuously monitor glucose levels to ensure they can proactively address issues associated with diabetes and provide the best possible care.

“Our focus has always been on delivering the best care to people with diabetes through continuous glucose monitoring,” said Matt Dolan, senior vice president and general manager of new markets at Dexcom. “By integrating our leading CGM system into Current Health’s RPM platform, we can expand the clinical utility of our technology and also offer a more comprehensive view into a patient’s whole health. These factors together mean that more patients will get the best care possible.”

What You Should Know:

– Glooko today announced that during the COVID-19 pandemic they are taking action to serve the global diabetes community by providing a no-charge remote care solution that provides live patient-to-clinician connectivity.

– To minimize the risk to people with diabetes during this time by broadening access to a remote medical appointment with healthcare providers, Glooko is offering its secure, privacy-protected remote care solution at no charge to medical clinics and people with diabetes as a public service until the greatest threat of the pandemic has subsided.

Glooko, a leading diabetes software company that enables people with diabetes and clinicians to manage care in real-time, today announced they are providing a no-charge remote care solution that provides live patient-to-clinician connectivity to serve the diabetic community during the COVID-19 pandemic. This public service is being made available to medical clinics and people with diabetes across 25 countries and 15 languages where Glooko technology is already provided. 

Leveraging Remote Care Models to Limit Exposure to COVID-19

As many efforts undertaken in our communities are aimed at reducing the chances of being exposed to and spreading COVID-19, individuals who have chronic conditions like diabetes and contract the virus appear to be at a higher risk for developing complications; as such limiting exposure is critical. For certain appointments, healthcare professionals may determine that the patient and their care team would be best served by a remote review of the patient’s personal diabetes data and a corresponding telehealth consult, reserving in-office visits only for those appointments where a patient’s medical status truly requires in-person treatment.

The Glooko product suite contains the Glooko and diasend® by Glooko diabetes management solutions, which integrate with many of the leading EHR systems used today. Both systems synchronize data from more than 190 diabetes devices and activity trackers, and they deliver integrated, timely and useful patient data, including glucose levels, blood pressure, weight, and food, insulin and medication intake.

– Welldoc and Redox announce a partnership to ensure bidirectional integration with EHR with Welldoc’s digital health solution for diabetes management, BlueStar.

– This partnership will allow providers to receive and review insights about users of Welldoc’s BlueStar digital health app for diabetes management directly within their EHR at the point of care.

 Welldoc, a digital health company revolutionizing chronic disease management, announced today its strategic partnership with Redox Inc., the leading interoperability platform for healthcare data exchange. The partnership will allow providers to receive and review insights about users of the BlueStar^® digital health app for diabetes management directly within their EHR at the point of care.

Optimizing Clinical Decision Support with Real-Time Patient Data

With a shared vision to improve health outcomes of patients and alleviate physician burden, Welldoc and Redox are positioned to optimize clinical decision support by making more patient data available in real-time. This is critical for patients managing a chronic disease.

Welldoc’s digital health tools work with the Redox network to ensure products are capable and securely executing meaningful, bidirectional integration workflows with a vendor-agnostic platform for healthcare data exchange. Today, more than 600 healthcare organizations using 45 EHR vendors trust Redox to strategically integrate digital health solutions into their day-to-day operations. Through this partnership, Welldoc’s BlueStar is immediately interoperable with any organization using Redox for healthcare data exchange to optimize the provider and patient experience.

Why It Matters

With one in four American adults managing multiple chronic conditions today, patients are seeking ways to better self-manage health outside of the clinical setting. BlueStar provides precise, AI-based real-time feedback focused on engaging patients to manage their health with clinical decision support.

 BlueStar^® was the first FDA-cleared digital health solution that guides individuals through the complicated journey of living with diabetes. By helping individuals with chronic disease self-manage their conditions and connecting them to their own healthcare team, Welldoc streamlines payers, employers and healthcare systems resources by focusing on a digital health solution to help better manage their populations living with multiple and costly chronic diseases.

“Digital therapeutics done right is a godsend for patients managing a chronic disease,” said Luke Bonney, co-founder and CEO of Redox. “The power of a caregiver in your pocket 24/7 cannot be overstated. Welldoc is fundamentally changing the way patients live with diabetes and establishing a standard for the industry with a commitment to integrations with CGMs, wearables, and EHRs. We are excited and proud to be a part of Welldoc’s mission and to ensure that the actionable insights derived by the BlueStar platform are made available to providers in an optimal way.”