Diabetes
Driving efficiencies in diabetes management
Sean Gaffney says that the use of digitalised blood glucose monitoring systems can streamline diabetes care for those living with the condition, their caregivers and healthcare providers. He provides an insight into how the financial burden of diabetes on the healthcare system could be reduced through the use of connectivity.
Diabetes is one of today’s greatest healthcare challenges globally. It is the fastest growing health crisis in the UK, with the number of people with diabetes breaking the 5 million mark for the first time in 2023. Ninety percent of those living with diabetes in the UK are living with type 2 diabetes.1
diabetes management is the empowerment of people living with diabetes to self-manage their condition, with the support and partnership of healthcare professionals.2
As a consequence People with diabetes have
a two- to threefold increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke when compared with the general population. Furthermore, complications of the condition make diabetes the leading cause of preventable blindness, renal failure, and limb amputation in developed countries.2
Every week, diabetes leads to 184
limb amputations, more than 770 strokes, 590 heart attacks and 2,300 cases of heart failure.1, 3 A report by Diabetes UK identified 7,000 excess deaths in 2022 involving people with diabetes, which was a 13% rise compared with the 5-year average prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.3 Diagnosis and treatment alone are not enough to tackle the rise in number of people with diabetes. Diabetes is a long-term condition that requires constant monitoring, so neither patient nor healthcare provider can get a meaningful break from its burden. Central to
of the growing diabetes population, people are needing to be treated in less time with better outcomes. Diabetes clinics and the NHS are facing
increasing pressures to meet the increased demand for delivery of care of these patients and to address the challenges associated with their daily management. This has created a demand for innovative solutions to manage this chronic condition, as well as supporting clinicians in their treatment decisions. For a person living with diabetes, having access to the right treatment and monitoring can make a huge impact on their future; furthermore, the financial burden of diabetes on the healthcare system is reduced.2
How blood glucose monitoring and connectivity can help NHS diabetes services are coping with overstretched resources and ever-increasing pressures. There is a lack of contact between
people with diabetes and their healthcare providers between appointments, which may be 8-9 weeks apart and strained by healthcare provider capacity.4
There is evidence that
combining a structured therapeutic approach with devices and digital solutions can tackle these challenges by helping people with diabetes to manage their condition through enabling streamlined, meaningful clinical and patient-relevant outcome improvements. Blood glucose monitoring (BGM) is an integral
part of effective diabetes management. Through the real-time recording of blood glucose levels, those living with diabetes are able to understand and manage their condition more effectively. The driver of innovation in diabetes management is the integration of data and connectivity. Digital tools, such as the mySugr app, sync with BGM devices to collate and visualise blood glucose data. Personalised insights from the data are provided on a cloud-based interactive diabetes management platform, such as the RocheDiabetes Care Platform. This transparent central platform is accessible for both people with diabetes and their healthcare providers, and brings together diabetes-relevant information, including blood glucose and insulin data, from various devices. This ultimately increases engagement between people with diabetes and their healthcare providers, enabling them to make more informed treatment and lifestyle-related decisions. Automated data analysis reduces workload and enables healthcare providers to visibly assess data and prioritise patients based on their health needs. This can improve patient flow, clinic capacity, and efficiency, allowing for more regular touchpoints between appointments. Digital cloud-based platforms support HCPs in identifying, stratifying, and prioritising people with diabetes based on their health needs, so that decisions can be made confidently with the knowledge that the data provided are timely
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I February 2024
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