Closing Diabetes Care Gaps

Nov 18, 2021
Andrea Amelse

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 34 million Americans have diabetes, and 88 million are prediabetic. Despite being one of the most common diseases in the U.S., it is still widely misunderstood. Providing education and resources to help those living with diabetes is critical to improving quality measures, managing diabetes, and preventing poor outcomes. Adherence to diabetes medications alone reduces over 1 million emergency room visits annually, which accounts for approximately $8.3 billion in annual health spending.

Proper management of Diabetes can be shown through data captured from routine blood work, A1c tests, specialist visits, prescription refills, and diabetic eye exam claims. But many members do not know they need to complete these visits, or understand why they are important. By identifying key gaps in care and understanding the barriers stopping members from completing these screenings, we can help members become more empowered advocates in their health journey.

Engaging the hard to reach

You need to meet members where they are. Through implementing a tailored omnichannel approach, you can engage with each member in the ways they prefer, while uncovering their barriers to care. This will help extend your reach, improve engagement at scale, and collect population insights to inform your enterprise strategy.

Each of your members is on a different journey. Addressing the correct gaps and identifying each member’s unique barriers will yield greater self-efficacy.

Tailored Experiences Fill Gaps

Example:

Diane is a Type 1 Diabetic who is a new member. Through SMS messaging, we can identify her barriers and provide her with care management to help support her and provide her education on nutrition and resources to help her maintain routine care visits.

“At age 14 I was diagnosed with Type 1. My parents watched over me and took care of me, but when I Iived alone I didn’t take care of my diabetes. I wasn’t checking my sugars, ate anything I wanted whenever. I didn’t want to be the diabetic girl with her medical bag.” –Diane J. Type 1 Diabetic

Example:

Charlotte is also a Type 1 Diabetic whose provided phone number is a landline. Through IVR and email, we can connect her to education on the importance of routine diabetic eye exams with a CTA (call-to-action) to schedule with her optometrist.

“I’ve been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years now and my hypo symptoms have changed. The first thing that happens is my vision starts to become abstract and I have hallucinations, it’s terrifying! I don’t know if this is common or not cause it never used to happen to me during hypos.” -Charlotte L. Type 1 Diabetic

mPulse uses conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Understanding to fill gaps in care by overcoming barriers and providing the right support through the right channel to build trust with each of your members. We deliver personalized interactions that inspire health literacy and behavior change over time.

Inspire Behavior Change at Scale

An essential part of building relationships with members is providing more than appointment reminders, test results, and claims status updates. While tests and appointments are strong indicators that the member is receiving recommended routine care, management of Diabetes goes beyond the doctor’s office. Living a healthy lifestyle with Diabetes is just as essential as maintenance visits, especially when it comes to diet, exercise, and mental health. Investing in health and wellbeing resources, programs, and education throughout each member’s health journey drives meaningful behavior change.

“People living with diabetes tend to focus on diet and meds (necessary of course) that I think maybe we forget other important tools in this fight. I have found that stress like an argument, financial worry, depression etc. affects my bs. I’d love to hear some successful stress reducers that can help.” -Joey S. Type 2 Diabetic

The Big Know is mPulse Mobile’s streaming health education capability. Our team of instructional writers and designers produce broadcast-quality content designed to inspire health literacy at scale. We leverage the expertise of nationally recognized health experts to teach video and podcast learning experiences that are proven to engage and educate your members.

In addition to condition-specific content, we offer holistic well-being education that teaches the basics of living your healthiest life, with wide-ranging topics that include building resiliency, HSA planning, eating well, yoga, mental health, and more. Discover our content library by visiting mpulse.thebigknow.com.

Our LiveWell Diabetes Podcast is hosted by Dr. Reed Tuckson, Doctor, Health Executive, & Author. In each podcast episode, he hosts a different health expert to discuss specific wellness topics related to managing Diabetes including eating well, movement, and understanding the science behind Type 2 Diabetes.

Listen to the podcast here: https://mpulse.thebigknow.com/home/audio-series/getbeing-podcast-livewell-diabetes/overview

Enroll in mPulse’s Newsletter to be notified when our Diabetes Essentials video series, taught by Ranelle Kirchner, launches in 2022.

Reimagining Health Engagement

mPulse Mobile partners with over 100 leading healthcare organizations and initiates 500+ million omnichannel conversations annually. As the leader in conversational AI for healthcare, we help build relationships with your consumers that go beyond the transaction to inspire self-efficacy and health outcomes at scale.