Digital Diabetes Care Getting Simpler for Patients

Diabetes is one of the most expensive chronic health conditions worldwide, and has become a favorite target of leading-edge clinicians and technologists touting the age of connected care. "In general, we'll see more of the trend of digitalization to better manage conditions," said Chuck Gammal, a partner specializing in healthcare and medical technology at consultancy Simon-Kucher. "Diabetes is somewhat unique among chronic conditions in that it's very data-intensive." Ironically, though the very data-intensive nature of diabetes care might suggest patients would clamor for platforms and care modules that get ever-more granular, that is not the case, according to William Polonsky, president of the San Diego-based Behavioral Diabetes Institute. In fact, Polonsky said, the notion of the "quantified self," so popular today with technology vendors selling trackers of all types—whether those gadgets are fitness trackers or network-connected glucose meters—might be a faulty assumption. "The people who developed this idea of the quantified self seem to be assuming people want these numbers, that they want to be professional diabetics, that they don't already have busy lives and that this information is going to be perceived as useful as opposed to just annoying," Polonsky said. In recent weeks, however, diabetes care vendors have made moves toward creating a more cogent ecosystem around digital care. Among the latest developments: Mountain View, CA-based Livongo Health, which ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: R & D Source Type: news