Barriers to CGM Uptake Among Patients, Providers | ASHP Midyear
A discussion with Kevin Cowart, PharmD, MPH, BCACP, FCCP, BCPS, assistant professor at the University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy.
Since continuous glucose monitors (CGM) were first introduced in 1999, they have quickly become a mainstay of diabetes management. Research has shown that the devices can lead to reductions in glucose variability, HbA1c levels, average blood glucose levels, and hypoglycemic events, while also increasing a patient’s time spent within the target blood sugar range.1
However, CGMs remain underutilized. According to data published in the journal Clinical Diabetes, around 50% of commercially insured patients with type 1 diabetes do not use a CGM device despite the known benefits. The authors of the study identifying populations with lagging utilization is a key first step in creating targeted interventions to increase CGM uptake and improve diabetes outcomes.2
At the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2024 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition, held December 8 to 12 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Drug Topics sat down with Kevin Cowart, PharmD, MPH, BCACP, FCCP, BCPS, assistant professor at the University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy, to discuss the role pharmacists play in encouraging CGM use in patients, and barriers to the uptake of CGM technology among patients and providers.
“Barriers exist at the health system level, at the provider level, [and] at the patient level,” Cowart said. “For example, some patients have fears around having a sensor attached to them. Some providers just don’t have time to be able to implement CGM and go through the detailed metrics that it supplies us. There’s a knowledge gap around CGM, as well. So, pharmacists have a big role in being able to help overcome that.”
