ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: COVID-19 created challenges to diabetes care and accelerated the need to optimize healthcare delivery outside of traditional settings. Due to subsequent stayat- home orders, many clinicians sought remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions to remain engaged with their patients with diabetes (PWD) and to provide care. This study examined RPM uptake and diabetes-related outcomes during the COVID- 19 pandemic for PWD using a RPM solution. Method(s): The Glooko platform is used globally by millions of PWD and populates a real world data repository of 100+ billion data points. The analysis included diabetes device syncs from 100,000+ Glooko patient users during Year 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate trends in RPM usage and diabetes outcomes (glucose, self-monitoring, etc.). Result(s): RPM uploads increased by 36% during the "lockdown" and remained high even as clinics reopened. Five months into the pandemic, peak glucose levels on Sundays and Saturdays increased, but remained lower than pre-pandemic levels (-1.2% and -0.7%, respectively). Average glucose levels dropped early on and gradually increased over the year but with lower weekend and holiday spikes. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) readings were within recommended range over 50% of the time and the average number of daily SMBG checks exceeded established clinical guidelines. Additional data will be presented. Conclusion(s): The Glooko RPM platform offered an important clinical tool to providers and patients during the pandemic which resulted in increased engagement, improved glucose trends, and increased self-monitoring. Remote care provided clinics and patients with necessary insights to collaborate and manage diabetes despite the lack of in-clinic visits.