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Diabetes companies partner to integrate CGM, personalized coaching platform
Abbott and digital health company Omada Health announced a partnership this week to integrate the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system with a personalized digital coaching program in a platform tailored for people with type 2 diabetes, according to a press release from the two companies.
Omada Health will offer the integrated platform to employers and health plans, according to the release. People with type 2 diabetes who are eligible will be guided through a tailored experience that includes an online physician consultation, obtaining a prescription for the FreeStyle Libre system and delivery of the CGM with a wireless scale. Participants will then receive personalized “digital care” via smartphones, including tailored recommendations from an assigned certified diabetes educator (CDE) coach though online chats in Omada’s app.
“For some people with diabetes, their condition might feel overwhelming,” DJ Moberly, RD, CDE, a registered dietitian and CDE coach with Omada Health, told Endocrine Today. “With the digital platform, individuals can receive real-time glucose data with actionable information to make better decisions for their health.”
The integrated program will be powered by the companies’ proprietary algorithms and analytics, according to the release, and will also include interactive educational lessons about diabetes, access to an online peer-support group and a tailored “action plan” to achieve goals.
From a coaching perspective, Moberly said, the platform provides more insight into the day-to-day activities that influence glucose fluctuations for the person with type 2 diabetes.
“We have information that the participant provides,” Moberly said. “They will often track not just glucose level information by scanning the FreeStyle Libre technology, but often track their activities and their food, and even medicines they are taking, because each person with diabetes has an individualized treatment program. As their coach, I can be aware of these different data points and help them identify how each of these variables could influence their glucose and how adjustments might help to minimize glucose variability. Each message is personalized to provide value to that individual. The more glucose data we have as coaches, the more specific we can be with recommendations and our coaching for each participant.”
Moberly said the number of patients assigned to each CDE coach will vary, noting that the personalized nature of the program will help people with diabetes to stay engaged with their health.
“The Omada platform has a human element of coaching drives true connection and value,” Moberly said. “As a coach, we provide deeply personalized support for each individual when they feel ready. The lack of engagement over time tends to indicate that the person might be struggling to find value in a product. Our coaching centers around the participants’ personalized goals are, and we then tailor our coaching for them, which provides them with a sense of value, as well as ongoing support. Checking in and oftentimes having daily conversations really allows for that connection to be there.”
The companies stated work is underway to bring the integrated platform to people with type 2 diabetes as soon as possible. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: Moberly is a registered dietitian and CDE coach with Omada Health.