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In part 2 of this Exclusive Interview, Adam Brown talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed about his interest in the apps that help patients to make decisions in their diabetes management.
Adam Brown, is senior editor and columnist at diaTribe.org, and head of Diabetes Technology & Connected Care at Close Concerns.
Transcript of this video segment:
Freed: So, what was title of your presentation here?
Brown: “Can Diabetes Apps Make Our Lives Easier?”
Freed: And how was the response — I mean, how was the turnout?
Brown: Tremendous. Tremendous interest.
Freed: And so, maybe you can share with us some of the top [apps], because there are so many diabetes apps out there. It gets really confusing.
Brown: Yeah.
Freed: And a lot of them are very similar to each other.
Brown: Yeah.
Freed: So, as far as the top apps out there that you worked with, that you like, what would they be?
Brown: Yeah. So, just to take one step back I feel like — Can Apps Make Our Lives Easier? I try to look at what makes a useful app in general. We’re all used to like the diabetes apps where you just log stuff and log stuff and log stuff, and after 72 hours you’re like, “Yeah, this is not helping me.” So, that to me is not a useful app. Where we’re going in diabetes is two things; radically convenient tools, so things like Uber, and Lyft, and Amazon. Apps that literally make your life easier by saving time and money. And the second is decision support: tell me how much insulin to take. And so, the things I’m really excited about are those individually and in combination. So, the most popular apps that we see, that I shared were the Dexcom G5, and Dexcom CLARITY, and Dexcom Share, and CGM. We’re now seeing multiple blood glucose meters with Bluetooth in them, so Ascensia, CONTOUR NEXT, and Accu-Chek. One touch reveal, no need to plug in cables to download the meters. And then, a lot of data apps like mySugr, and One Drop, and Gluco are really popular. And so, that’s kind of the stuff people are using now but what I’m more excited about is the decision support stuff that’s coming.
So, there are four FDA cleared apps for titrating basal insulin. So, a health care provider would prescribe an app, let’s say Voluntis, Insulia, or the Gluco Mobile Insulin Dosing System. They’d prescribe this app. They’d set up the titration plan. Patient gets the app, and they enter their fasting glucose information, and they get updated doses based on their patterns. And it just tightens the feedback loop which we’re so slow on in diabetes, helping people with that. And then there’s a slew of bolus calculator apps. There’s a few that are approved. MySugr has one in Europe. Accu-Chek Connect has one in the US. Companion Medical has a smart pen with a Bolus Calculator. So, helping people know not just how much basal to take but how much Bolus. And then, Medtronic has just launched the Sugar.IQ which is an artificial intelligence powered app that watches your CGM trends and would give you insights. Like, it’s Saturday morning, you get an insight that says, “Hey, Adam. You actually tend to go low on Saturdays between 12:00 and 3:00.” And I get that on Saturday morning, which is to me really helpful decision support. And then where this is all going is titrating people’s basal and bolus insulin from a smart phone app based on all their glucose trends, so Lilly is working on that, Bigfoot is working on that.
And then for pumpers, being able to dose from your phone and have a hybrid closed loop is actually not that far away. So, there’s one smart phone controlled pump outside the US made by a company called SOOIL. And then Medtronic, [Insula, Bigfoot, Lilly, they’re all working on being able to do that. So, it does sound like a lot. I actually covered 40 examples in this talk of things that I think make life easier. But we’re in the early stages of diabetes apps, so if people feel like they prescribe apps or they recommend apps and people don’t use them, I think it’s because they’re just not useful enough yet. But we shouldn’t forget that when CGM came out, what was it the Gluco Watch? You know, the Dexcom STS. And look at where we are now. We have two factory calibrated continuous glucose monitors and four systems where you can use your smart phone to view your CGM data. You don’t even need a receiver. And four great systems approved in the US. So, I think we just have to be patient. And the other thing people forget is people’s expectations are super high. Like, when you use something and it doesn’t work, you’re just like, “Ah! Forget it.” You kind of get one shot deal. And so, I think we should also keep that in mind.
Freed: Well, you took half of my questions. (Laughs)
Brown: (Laughs)