Changing Diabetes Management through Remote Patient Monitoring Technology

Today, more than 37 million people in the US are currently living with diabetes, which equates to about 10% of the population. While these figures are stark, what’s more is that if uncontrolled, diabetes can lead to other comorbidities, such as heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, kidney failure and amputations. This is particularly alarming as recent studies have found that about 75% of patients with Type 2 Diabetes don’t meet goals for A1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

Given these stark facts, patients must be given the best tools – from education and engagement with their healthcare provider to technology to better manage their diabetes and avoid complications. Historically, asking patients to self-monitor their glucose at home with finger pricks has been a costly and negative experience, leading to frustration and anxiety. In recent years, technology has made diabetes management in between doctor’s visits more of a partnership between providers and patients, enabling greater glucose data visibility for clinicians and a greater sense of support for patients.

Modern Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Simplify Diabetes Management

For example, there are many types of connected devices, either through Bluetooth or cellular connectivity, that patients and providers can leverage to partner on diabetes management in between doctor’s visits, including:

Continuous Glucose Monitors, which are wearable technology sensors that are placed just under the skin to continuously measure glucose levels.

Cellular Blood Glucose Monitors, which allow patients to test their blood glucose at home, and have the data transmitted automatically to a platform or portal where their provider can see it.

Cellular blood pressure cuffs, which allow patients to take their blood pressure at home, and have the data transmitted automatically to a platform or portal where their provider can see it.

Smart insulin pens, a reusable injector pen that is connected to a smartphone app to calculate and track doses, and give patients reminders, alerts, and reports via their connected device.

Making Remote Patient Monitoring Data Actionable to Improve Diabetes Management

In order to effectively improve diabetes management, lower care costs, and improve overall health outcomes, data from these devices must be actionable.

Rimidi’s remote patient monitoring solution for diabetes takes diabetes management further than other solutions, by combining patient-generated data from connected devices like those mentioned above with relevant clinical data in EHR systems, allowing clinicians to see all of the important data for diabetes care–medications, latest laboratory results, and diagnoses–without having to click through multiple places in the EHR.

Rimidi’s Clinical Decision Support functionality can then trigger “cards” and alerts based on the combined dataset. Cards may be triggered if a patient has not tested their blood glucose levels, or if their levels are out of range at home. Alternatively, they may be triggered based on clinical data in the EHR against guidelines (e.g. patient should be on a Statin according to guidelines and is not, or patient’s followup A1c is not at goal).

The prevalence of cardiometabolic conditions like diabetes is the healthcare problem of our generation, and technology can make managing these conditions better for the patient and their doctors. To see how Rimidi’s integrated clinical management platform is solving this problem, schedule a demo today.