Tech, Please!

In a perfect world, people living with diabetes would be able to access and successfully use the diabetes technology that fits their needs. In reality, financial challenges, lack of healthcare services, and provider assumptions may keep some patients from getting diabetes tech. And for patients who are able to get access to diabetes tech, another set of barriers may prevent them from long term use.

In this episode, our cohosts discuss access to diabetes technology and how it can be impacted by cost, provider bias, and social determinants of health.

Topics include:

• Practical cost considerations for patients 
• The need for training and support during diabetes tech adoption
• Provider assumptions about education, race, and language barriers
• Publicly available resources like the Harvard Implicit Association Test
• How patients’ finances, health literacy, and geography may affect access to diabetes tech

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Diabetes technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and tools that seemed revolutionary a few years ago are now in widespread use. But some patients and providers are still reluctant to dip their toes in the diabetes tech pool. How can we help our patients (and ourselves) get comfortable with current tech tools and prepare to adapt to new tech that’s around the corner?

In this episode, our cohosts discuss current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in diabetes technology and where we’re headed with electronic health records (EHR). They also make the case that the changing nature of tech shouldn’t keep people from using it now.

Topics include:

• AI technology and actionable insights
• Pairing machine learning with real-person coaching
• Electronic health records (EHR) and virtual clinics
• Compatibility across EHR platforms

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems don’t just administer insulin—they can also provide patients with robust glucose and insulin data. What can patients expect from automated insulin delivery? And how can using an AID help them better understand their diabetes?

In this episode, our cohosts dig into automated insulin delivery. They also explore how we can make diabetes data accessible and useful to different types of patients.

Topics include:

• Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems (aka “artificial pancreas”)
• Explaining diabetes data to patients in actionable terms
• Patient expectations and realistic self-management goals
• Pairing the right technology with the right person

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Do we get all the data we need from our patients with diabetes? Is it accurate? Is it complete? When we’re trying to make sound, data-driven treatment decisions, we’re relying on the numbers, and sometimes those numbers aren’t the full picture.

This episode is a deep dive into data and its role in helping patients manage aspects of their diabetes.  

Topics include:

• A brief history of blood sugar monitoring
• Comparing A1C, TIR, AGP, and other metrics
• Using diabetes data to inform patient self-management

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Patients and providers both feel the time crunch when it comes to diabetes care, and that may affect how well they work together to manage diabetes. 

In this episode, our cohosts discuss their experiences with technology and efforts to make communication and self-management more efficient for patients.

Topics include:

• How providers’ time limitations impact patient care 
• Communicating efficiently by text and telemedicine
• Facilitating efficient patient-provider discussions
• Smart pens and data capture technology
• Automated insulin delivery systems

Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Every day, people with diabetes may spend hours on blood sugar monitoring, dose logging, and other self-management tasks. As providers, we can help patients integrate diabetes technology into their routine so they can make the most efficient use of their time.

Today, our cohosts share stories of time-management challenges with diabetes and how some digital health tools have helped their patients reduce their daily time commitment.

Topics include:

• Time spent on tasks other than glucose monitoring
• Saving time via CGMs, telehealth, and online pharmacies
• Diabetes burnout
• An app to help teens with diabetes and their caregivers in the transition to independent self-management
• How age at diagnosis may affect patients’ perception of diabetes

Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

Tech can be a helpful tool to draw patients’ attention to their own behavior and motivations. When we integrate apps and digital devices with patient-centered care, we may be able to help people with diabetes develop healthy habits.

In this episode, our cohosts discuss the role of technology in facilitating behavior change for patients and caregivers.

Topics include:

• Key features of diabetes apps
• Behavioral design in diabetes tech
• Tech designed for teens with diabetes
• Building trust in the patient-provider relationship
• Learning coaching skills through online platforms

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

To help people with diabetes stay engaged, it’s important to acknowledge and address what’s standing in their way. Cost, communication, the complexity of the insurance system, and provider bias can all have an impact on patient engagement and access to diabetes technology.

In this episode, our cohosts discuss some common barriers to engagement and conclude that with the right support, tech doesn’t have to be cutting edge to be helpful.

Topics include:

• Addressing alarm fatigue
• Utilizing telehealth and text messages
• Advocacy for patients in a digital health landscape
• Cost and insurance challenges
• Provider bias due to financial assumptions

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.

For patients, staying on track with diabetes self-management can be a challenge. Each time we end a visit with a diabetes patient, we send them off hoping they’ll follow through on what we’ve discussed. But we can’t control which factors in their lives may get in the way.

In this episode, our cohosts discuss the ways that tech and a patient-centered approach can help providers stay connected with patients.

Topics include:

• Rethinking the idea of adherence
• How CGMs are helping patients with aspects of diabetes self-management
• Evaluating patient-created training videos
• Supporting patients while they’re adopting technology

The Diabetes Tech-up™ podcast is brought to you by Novo Nordisk.