National Diabetes Month: The Important Role of Remote Glucose Monitoring for Managing Diabetes
November is National Diabetes Month. Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34.2 million Americans have diabetes; that amounts to 10.5% of the U.S. population, and cases are growing exponentially as people age and gain weight. It’s also been estimated that one in three U.S. adults over the age of 18 have prediabetes, meaning that blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not yet at a level to receive a diabetes diagnosis. Another staggering figure: the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.
The numbers are truly alarming, but for those battling pre-diabetes or living with the disease, there are ways to monitor and better manage the condition. To ensure that blood sugar levels stay within a healthy range and understand the impact of one’s lifestyle to their health, several measures are recommended including quarterly Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) or periodical glucose monitoring. Keeping track of those readings and reporting them to a patient’s healthcare provider has shown to help better manage the condition. Remote patent monitoring (RPM) for diabetes encompasses these best practices in a convenient and simple way for patients.
With RPM, patients can use a glucometer from the comfort of their own homes to test their glucose levels daily, or however often it is needed, and these remote readings can then be automatically shared with healthcare providers without any action required by the patient. This level of patient engagement and the resulting data collection gives providers an improved look at their patients’ health over time and in between office visits. Should a glucose reading show an improper blood sugar level or a trend in the wrong direction, the remote glucose monitoring device is at the ready to alert the healthcare provider, ultimately empowering them to better monitor the patient’s health, and intervene quicker when insulin adjustments need to be made.
Not only can RPM play a significant role in improving care, but it also has cost savings benefits while providing an added layer of convenience. For example, patients don’t need to worry about scheduling and traveling to as many appointments, and physicians are freed up for other patients who require in-person care. And, because providers are notified of worrisome readings in a timely manner, emergency room visits, and the associated costs, can be avoided.
In order to be successful with RPM, simplicity is key. Not only does a program need to be easy for healthcare providers to set up, but it also needs to be straightforward for the patients that are using it. While at-home glucose readings are proven to be beneficial, if a patient has trouble using the device or difficulty transmitting the readings to their physician, the initiative simply will not work. At CareSimple, we are dedicated to making remote monitoring easy for patients of any age, condition, and socioeconomic status. Our remote glucose monitoring device works just like a normal glucometer, with test strips, lancets, and lancing device, shipped directly to patients and pre-configured to work out-of-the-box immediately, requiring no app pairing, WiFi, or setup process. Patients can simply insert the strip and blood sample into the device, and within five seconds of taking a reading, the result is available. From there, the readings are automatically transmitted in near real-time to the provider over cellular networks, with no further action needed from the patient.
Interested in learning more about our RPM solution for diabetes monitoring and management, click here, and visit our website to get started.