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      Reimagining diabetes treatment

      August 06, 2020 | Diabetes

      Managing diabetes can be complex. Achieving and maintaining one’s best health for this chronic condition, which causes higher than normal blood sugar levels, depends on a person’s ability to monitor symptoms, manage complicated medication regimens, control blood glucose and practice healthy behaviors.

      “There are 50 different things — or maybe more — that a person with diabetes could be doing at any time to best manage their condition,” says Stella Wong, Senior Director for Product Development at CVS Health. “It's overwhelming.”
       
      In the U.S., more than 34 million people live with diabetes and deal with these challenges, according to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. And only about 23 percent of people with Diabetes have it under control, says Peter Simmons, RPh, Vice President of Chronic Care Optimization. “Given the array of solutions available, that's a shame. We feel like we can do better.”

      To do that, CVS Health created a proactive, integrated and holistic plan that reimagines diabetes treatment for its members. The goal is to reduce the complexity of self-management and improve health outcomes for plan members with diabetes — while preventing its onset.

      Available with Caremark and Aetna benefit plans, the Transform Diabetes Care program uses CVS Health data insights and analytics to create personalized care plans for individuals across five clinical areas. The plan can be communicated through local CVS pharmacists and HealthHUB® professionals, digitally and virtually. Members are provided myriad tools to support their personalized care plan.

       

      Peter Simmons, Vice President of Chronic Care Optimization for CVS Health.
       
      “We always seek to be consumer-centric, consider how to deliver care locally and make care as simple as possible for customers and patients,” says Peter Simon, CVS Health’s VP Chronic Care Optimization.

      The data also allows CVS Health to identify gaps in care and respond to patient needs before they arise. This proactive approach sets it apart from most other treatment plans, says Kyle Smith, head of CVS Health Transformation Marketing. “I think that's the most compelling thing about the work that we're doing.”

      The program also utilizes a Pharmacist Panel to help patients stick to their plans, says Pharmacy Services Market Support Coach Rebecca Rice. “Pharmacists continue the conversation with their patients about their health while building trust and rapport,” she says.

      “We think about our purpose every day: how we can help people on their path to better health,” Simmons says. “We always seek to be consumer-centric, consider how to deliver care locally and make care as simple as possible for customers and patients, especially those managing chronic conditions such as diabetes.”