VitalTech is committed to raising awareness and providing ways to manage diabetes. Let’s start with the facts.
Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)1:
- Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States
- More than 37 million US adults have diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don’t know they have it.
- 96 million US adults – over a third – have prediabetes and more than 8 in 10 of them don’t know they have it.
- Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes; type 1 diabetes accounts for approximately 5-10%.
- In the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled as the American population has aged and become more overweight or obese.
- Medical costs and lost work and wages for people with diagnosed diabetes total $327 billion yearly.
These statistics are truly alarming, but for those battling prediabetes or living with the chronic health condition, there are ways to monitor and better manage the disease. Virtual care technology like remote patient monitoring makes managing the condition convenient and simple for patients.
Monitoring Diabetes with Virtual Care
Monitoring diabetes can reduce your risk of serious – even life threating – complications. Patients suffering from diabetes need to monitor blood sugar or glucose levels to ensure they are staying within a healthy range. With the use of virtual care, patients can use a glucometer to test glucose levels daily, or as often as needed. These readings are then shared automatically with patients’ healthcare providers without any action required by the patient.
Alert thresholds may be set by the healthcare provider allowing them to intervene when levels are out of range to prevent further complications. The level of patient engagement and vital data collection seen in the use of virtual care gives providers a better understanding of their patients’ health throughout time and in between office visits.
Not only does virtual care have great potential to improve efficiency of care and enhance quality of treatment, but it also provides a greater level of convenience with its cost saving benefits. “On average, people with diagnosed diabetes have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.”2 Hospital inpatient care and physician office visits account for over forty percent of the total medical cost. Virtual care gives patients quality treatment from the comfort of their own home. Patients no longer need to worry about the burdens of scheduling and traveling to appointments. Furthermore, because of the levels of engagement and alert thresholds, emergency room visits and the associated costs can be avoided.
The senior population is most affected as diabetes rates increase as age increases. Almost 25% of Americans 65 and older have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.3 Because of this, the simplicity of a virtual care platform for patients and providers is crucial. At VitalTech, we are dedicated to making virtual care easy for patients of any age, condition, and socioeconomic status. All Bluetooth monitoring devices and additional equipment are customized for each patient’s needs. It is then shipped directly to the patients and is pre-configured to work out-of-the-box immediately, requiring no additional technology or setup.
Interested in learning more about our solution to better managing diabetes or other conditions?