Over 3.3 million African Americans in the United States have diabetes. Ninety percent of these individuals have type 2 diabetes and are often treated with basal insulin—used to control blood glucose levels between meals and overnight.
According to the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 2016 Standards of Care, teaching patients with type 2 diabetes how to self-manage their insulin dose based on blood glucose levels improves glucose control. However, more than half of individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin do not meet the recommended targets for blood glucose control. Major contributing factors include challenges with insulin initiation and dose adjustment by patients and health care professionals.
Voluntis, which makes companion software for medical devices, has received FDA clearance for Insulia®, the first of it’s kind app for the management of type 2 diabetes. With the FDA approval of Insulia insulin dosing and adjustment could be a lot easier.
Insulia is a prescription-only medical device that provides patients with insulin dose recommendations and educational coaching messages in response to blood glucose values and other diabetes-related data. To ensure optimal individualized treatment Insulia supports a wide variety of treatment plan configurations and evidence-based insulin adjustment recommendations found in the ADA 2016 Standards of Care and used in routine clinical practice.
How Does It Work?
After the healthcare provider sets up the personalized treatment plan according to the patient’s profile, insulin prescription, and blood glucose goals, automated insulin dosing recommendations are provided to the patient daily. The dose adjustment algorithm is embedded in the application and is accessible to the patient via a web portal or on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
The patient data is automatically shared with the health care team, who can remotely monitor the patient’s progress toward their goal thanks to tailored notifications. This enables providers to deliver highly personalized telemedicine services, a practice increasingly supported by payers worldwide.
“Type 2 diabetes is a complex condition, especially for people who have transitioned to insulin therapy. Indeed, self-monitoring blood glucose and self-managing insulin doses are cumbersome and challenging for a majority of patients. As a result, harnessing new and reliable technologies to support patients in safely managing insulin dosing while keeping in touch with healthcare team could be well received by provider and patient communities” said Ananda Basu, MBBS, MD, Endocrinologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, in a press release distributed by Voluntis.
In an effort to minimize cost and maximize patient care, healthcare insurers are moving towards value-based care where providers are reimbursed based on outcomes and quality of care. The complications associated with diabetes such as kidney disease and amputation amount to more than $300 billion per year.
Optimizing adherence to diabetes medications is recognized as one of the most effective ways of controlling disease expenditures, with an estimated $4,690 cost saving opportunity per patient per year in the U.S.
“With companion software, we seek to contribute to the transition to value-based care, by improving the quality of care and optimizing the cost of managing chronic diseases.” said Pierre Leurent, Voluntis’ Founder, and CEO.
Insulia will be available to patients and healthcare providers in the first half of 2017.
Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, national speaker and author of The African American Guide to Living Well with Diabetes.. She is Dannon One Yogurt Every Day Nutrition Advisor.
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