New GP ‘smart’ tool helps people with diabetes receive personalised care

A new ‘smart’ tool to help people with diabetes easily share data with their healthcare professionals (HCPs), so they can be better supported by their GP remotely, is being piloted by Roche Diabetes Care.

Remote monitoring and support are particularly helpful for people with diabetes who may be worried about regular visits to their GP surgery or other healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RocheDiabetes Care Platform (RDCP) has been launched as a pilot in Swansea.

The platform brings together vast amounts of data on patients’ blood glucose levels collected over time. It uses a traffic light system and can highlight patterns in the data, such as repeated high and low blood sugar readings. This can help HCPs to have more focused and effective conversations with people about their diabetes management.

The RDCP’s insights are based on data from various medical devices and apps used by people with diabetes, so patterns in high or low sugar levels at certain times of the day can be quickly linked to regular activities in their daily routine. This makes it easier for people with diabetes and their HCPs to spot patterns and discuss what is behind the numbers.

Tools to visualise large sets of data are commonly used in hospitals but are found less frequently in primary care. Interpreting data is an important part of diabetes management. Improving diabetes management can help to reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications.

Last year, almost four million people were diagnosed with diabetes in the UK, with around 90% of these having type 2[1]. Studies have indicated diabetes increases the risk for those who are infected with COVID-19 of becoming severely unwell and doubles the risk of dying from the virus[2].

Targeted support can improve outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes through integrated personalised diabetes management (iPDM) using apps such as mySugr, which gives them access to their health data and tools to help them better manage their diabetes.

Data from the mySugr mobile app can easily be shared with the RDCP. This integration between the RDCP and mySugr also enables HCPs to view their patient’s blood glucose monitoring data during consultations, allowing for more meaningful conversations.

Dr Claire Marriott, Medical Affairs Lead at Roche Diabetes Care, said: “Healthcare has had to adapt to become more digital over the course of the pandemic. The RDCP is an important tool and we hope it will enable HCPs to support people with diabetes to manage their own condition more easily, and to do so remotely.

“We are very proud to support people with diabetes, who might feel worried about going to their GP surgeries for regular check-ups at this time.”