One company has tried to cut through the clutter by making a diabetes app that can make your life easier.
You may have heard of the MiniMed Connect, the little device that syncs your insulin pump and iPhone. This Bluetooth box, born from IBM Watson technology, sends Glucose measurements to your doctor.
Doctors Review Health Device Data
IBM Watson Software
Watson takes information from the devices we use every day and learns the patterns that we live in. In the near future, that could mean Watson is able to warn you of a hypoglycemic event based off of your pump readings and what food you ate that day. It could even help you make menu selections to avoid a diabetic event in the first place. Devices like the MiniMed Connect are paving the way to this exciting new frontier in diabetes care.
Medtronic Innovation
So is the Connect unique, or is it just the first of its kind? In a brief interview conducted in February, Medtronic Diabetes Group Senior Manager Pamela Reese spoke on this subject.
“With our CareLink therapy management software and the MiniMed connect we can send more information to the doctor, so the device owner has less to worry about. We are definitely seeing the beginning of a trend.”
The way MiniMed Connect works is a small Bluetooth device shares information from your insulin pump to your iOS smartphone. You can easily check your blood sugar levels from your phone instead of having to pull out your pump. It also sends data to loved ones so that they can check in when levels fall out of whack. When glucose reaches dangerous levels, they’ll get a text message letting them know immediately.
The Future: Connected Healthcare
Where the power of the Connect really comes into play is when your doctor accesses the data. For several years Medtronic has provided their CareLink software so that patients could manually upload their pump data to their physician, making doctor visits less of a hassle. With the Connect, that process is streamlined so that the patient doesn’t have to manually do anything. Pump data is constantly sent to your Doctor, and when a visit rolls around all you have to do is walk in the door.
According to the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions, the future of Healthcare is one where the patient and the doctor are constantly connected. Our smartphones are becoming more than our media devices – they are merging our lifestyles into one continuous feed. In 2020 you may never have to worry about checking your glucose levels and scheduling doctor visits, because your phone can do all of that for you without pressing a button. Right now we’re witnessing the first small steps towards a larger connected world.
About Author: Angela Hong is the CEO and founder of Healthy Beeps, a consumer driven healthcare company. Healthy Beeps is focused on helping consumer determine what medical devices best fits their needs. For more information visit www.healthybeeps.com.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker’s Hospital Review/Becker’s Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
