VIDEO: Diabetes technology access affected by disparities in 'digital connectivity'

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There are disparities, and many of them are due to what we call social determinants of health. People don't always have access to different kinds of technologies, but if the doctors treat everybody equally, they can try to get these technologies into the hands of all their patients. We know that some patients have trouble with the English language or they have trouble dealing with numbers, and it is helpful if you have those skills, so we need instructions for these folks that are simple enough that they can understand how to use the equipment.

There are also people who don't have access to a wireless technology. I wrote an article recently referring to access to wireless as the sixth vital sign in addition to the traditional ones, which are blood pressure, pulse, a respiratory rate and temperature. And then a fifth one was added recently for pain. But I would say that digital connectivity is the sixth one. You can't get maximum benefit from modern internet of things, digital healthcare, if you don't have wireless connectivity. So we need to get some type of wireless phone or smartphone into the hands of everybody who needs it. And we also need to find a way that people can have access to healthy food. Communities that have less access to technology, less access to wireless communication and less access to healthy food have worse outcomes. So we want to have all the tools available for every group, not just some groups.