Thanks to an initiative sponsored by Microsoft which opened for submission on Feb 25 described as a way to jump-start the online health ecosystem, we have accelerated our plans to complete the integration between Diabetech’s real-time Automated Diabetes Management System and Microsoft’s HealthVault platform. The timing couldn’t be better as it coincides with the commercial availability of several Diabetech programs and the launch of our new global GSM/GPRS wireless & mobile device platform.

“Hold on there! What about and their $10M competition for Android applications (Google’s open mobile phone platform)?”

(In the event that clicking on the image tells you the clip is defunct, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=1FJHYqE0RDg)

I can think of just a few apps we could build on Android that function as an extension to ADMS in the field of diabetes care and beyond.

Of course, Google beat Microsoft to the punch when they announced this back on Feb 18! I fully expect Diabetech to be in the mix with Android based apps as well but those are perhaps a little further out for us than today’s announcement.

We’ve always believed that it’s important for patient’s to have choice and control over their own health data. Likewise, it’s critical that providers have an environment that standardizes the way in which they deal with patient data. That’s where this likely combination comes in. By combining the flexibility of patient data collection with established protocols and an easy to use portal by the endocrinologists, diabetes educators and other providers needing or contributing to the overall patient record, everyone wins.

Not only will we see the various technologies coming together, we are also bringing a committed and geographically dispersed team of diabetes specialists with us given that we’ve already earned the incumbent position as their diabetes health care extender. This ensures that the technology will actually get used. Unlike the days of the bubble when nobody seemed to care about what happened after you built something, this time we already have a head start with an active subscription-based consumer driven patient community, regional health centers, endocrinologists and CDEs actively working more efficiently with their patients through our ADMS and even the prospect of insurance reimbursement for our Diabetes HouseCall program looming on the horizon led by the likes of Aetna and Cigna.

Over the next couple of months, Diabetech will be developing its contribution to at least two consortiums targeting new models of diabetes care delivery. The first is obvious given our pioneering and leading position concerning children and their families with type 1 diabetes as well as the schools and churches who also play a role in keeping these kids safe. In addition, Diabetech’s technology and programs will be proposed as a better way to care for kids and their mothers even before they are born as in the case of gestational diabetes. Through more effective screening programs and active management via remote patient monitoring, complications are likely reduced thanks to a proactive model including advanced patient-centric self-care tools and remote provider interventions.

Stay tuned for announcements including the diabetes specialists signing on to this initiative and an eventual announcement regarding Diabetech’s strategic partners on these proposals. For more details on the Microsoft HealthVault Be Well Fund initiative, head on over to Microsoft and get familiar with their offer.

http://mygluco.com

‘now it’s easier to take care of yourself’.

Removing stress from self-management of diabetes improves quality of life for the patient and those people around him/her. Simplifying diabetes self-care is what mygluco.com is all about.

We just launched version 1.0 of our upgraded storefront as part of our commercial launch activities for our technology-enhanced programs. While simplifying the subscription process for the consumer is fundamental, this site is fairly unique in that it represents only the beginning of our relationship with the mygluco patient community.

We expect to see tremendous growth this year in the mygluco subscription-based diabetes community as we transition several programs from research to commercially available. So far, the mygluco community is defined by its participants as a group of people who demand that current generation technology be applied to their needs thereby enabling better ways to manage their diabetes… in real-time. While other people talk about how things could be better, these people have all committed to making their lives better and shared their experiences to help others understand.

Rather than just looking online for the lowest priced diabetes widget, mygluco.com is about totally integrated diabetes solutions that simplify daily and weekly patient self-care tasks. For example, people who use our GlucoMON® Real-Time Alert Program tell us that keeping a logbook is hard let alone all of the time it takes to reformat or upload data to perform frequent between visit glucose pattern management. By using Diabetech’s ADMS™ (automated diabetes management system), these subscribers also tell us that real-time alerts from the patient to their cell phones have helped them to simplify their lives as well as improve family relationships. Likewise, our HomeCheck365 Program delivers education, accurate A1c’s and convenience all for less than the travel cost and co-pays for your next quarterly visit.

Our GluCONIX Research Program will also continue to accelerate advancements in diabetes technology and methods of care. Some of what we do there may eventually graduate to commercial status via the mygluco subscriber community. In the meantime, get on over to mygluco.com and get the latest and greatest for simplifying diabetes management.

It’s nice when things happen ahead of schedule. Starting this week, HomeCheck is available in select Retail Pharmacies over the counter.

Due to the extreme accuracy and convenience of the HomeCheck-A1c, this hematology test is used to assess blood sugar control by people with diabetes, to determine elevated glucose levels in undiagnosed people with diabetes and those with a condition known as pre-diabetes, and to determine if there is an increased risk for heart attack in the non-diabetic.

Next time you’re in a retail pharmacy, you might look to see if they already carry home diagnostic test kits for cholesterol, etc… The future of testing at home is bright and promises to improve the availability and frequency of critical health feedback, but only if the quality of these tests are high. Fortunately, HomeCheck is here to raise the bar.