Dexcom, a maker of continuous glucose monitors, is developing a Type 2 diabetes monitor for those who don't need insulin that has a 15-day sensor and a cash-pay option for patients not covered by Medicare and health insurers that want daily decision support.

With the number of diabetes-affected Americans numbering more than 37 million, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, healthcare technology developers and researchers seek to enhance the prevention, early detection, management and care of diabetes. 

"There are three key decisions that somebody with Type 2 diabetes who is not taking insulin makes," said Dexcom Chief Executive Kevin Sayer, according to a report last week in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"Those decisions are exercise, food and meds."

Sayers reportedly told attendees at an American Diabetes Conference in San Diego that the company's new sensor – which is about a year or more from market launch – would help the millions of patients managing Type 2 diabetes without insulin, and that it would help millions of prediabetic patients learn how their daily habits affect their conditions.

While 10% of adults worldwide have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, it's a smaller percentage that requires multiple medications to control blood glucose levels and avoid serious complications, according to researchers at the University of Utah Health, Regenstrief Institute and Hitachi who are looking to the use of artificial intelligence to analyze electronic health record data for T2DM characteristics. 

"With this system, they can look at their meal planning. They can look at their exercise. They can look at whatever meds they take – be it diabetes meds or meds for other conditions," Sayers explained about the new wearable medical device Dexcom is developing and the U.S. government is reviewing.

He said in general, wearable glucose monitors must show how they can help reduce costs throughout the healthcare system.

"One-quarter of the dollars spent in the U.S. on healthcare are spent on diabetes," he said. 

"The only way to change these trends is to give people information that can make their health better."

Dexcom also announced on Tuesday that its G7 CGM, which has a predictive urgent low-alert feature in addition to real-time alerts for those who use insulin to manage their diabetic conditions, received market approval from Health Canada.

The CGM device received U.S. market approval in December. In January, Sayers told MobiHealthNews that with the emergence of the new G7 platform, Dexcom CGMs have become "interoperable and connectable" with greater cybersecurity. 

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.