A Roadmap to an Equitable Digital Diabetes Ecosystem

Abstract

ObjectivesDiabetes management presents a substantial burden to individuals living with the condition and their families, health care professionals, and health care systems. Although an increasing number of digital tools are available to assist with tasks such as blood glucose monitoring and insulin dose calculation, multiple persistent barriers continue to prevent their optimal use. MethodsAs a guide to creating an equitable connected digital diabetes ecosystem, we propose a roadmap with key milestones that need to be achieved along the way. ResultsDuring the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic, there was an increased use of digital tools to support diabetes care, but at the same time, the pandemic also highlighted problems of inequities in access to and use of these same technologies. Based on these observations, a connected diabetes ecosystem should incorporate and optimize the use of existing treatments and technologies, integrate tasks such as glucose monitoring, data analysis, and insulin dose calculations, and lead to improved and equitable health outcomes. ConclusionsDevelopment of this ecosystem will require overcoming multiple obstacles, including interoperability and data security concerns. However, an integrated system would optimize existing devices, technologies, and treatments to improve outcomes.