Sunday, July 10, 2005

The Virtual-Loop(TM)
In contrast to so-called Closed-loop systems that might someday be available to the average person, there is already an area of currently available technology for managing diabetes that is rarely utilized but already shown to be highly effective.

It has to be simple #1 in order for people to adopt it. There is no guarantee that the closed-loop system of the future will ever be simple. In fact, early versions or stepping stones to the holy grail are quite likely to be cumbersome and require tremendous dedication by the patient and medical practitioners willing to work with these patients. Lots of effort will continue to go into the closed-loop research so no need to worry about that technology.

What we can influence is the efficient use of currently available and already widely used diabetes technology. New reports declare that less than 7% of the patients managed by your average doctor are meeting the guidelines put forth by medical standards of care. Add focus by working with specialists in diabetes and your chances go up to only 11%. Somewhere along the way good intentions are lost and patients are not getting the help they need to intensively manage their disease.

My thoughts and those of people who wish to discuss their own will hopefully influence the methods currently used by the medical establishment and open their eyes to what's possible via the intelligent application of new technologies to augment their service delivery model to patients. Too often, this discussion results in a defensive posture by clinicians as if they were going to be replaced.

So what the heck is this Virtual-Loop? Tune in next time...