Have you ever been upset or frustrated for following reasons?
- Not having time to go to the doctor?
- Waiting hours to be seen in doctor’s office?
- Significantly fluctuating blood sugars?
- Not being able to know what to do with very high blood sugars or very low blood sugars?
- Not being able to call a provider who can help you instantly when you have a question about your diabetes?
- Have a new medication prescribed and do not know who to ask your questions?
- Have side effects from medications and do not know what to do?
- Just started on insulin, have fears about insulin, however, do not have anyone to share your feelings, fears and frustrations?
- You keep forgetting to check blood sugars or even worse, keep forgetting to bring the blood sugars that you have recorded to the doctor’s office?
- Tired of trying to keep records on messy bloody papers?
What if you didn’t have to have any of these frustrations anymore and had peace of mind with a new way of managing diabetes, remotely via telemedicine/telehealth?
Evolution of Telemedicine in Time
Telemedicine has been a brilliant addition to the medical world. Over the years, telehealth has been proven to overcome many barriers to health services. Distance between patient and provider, interruption in continuity of care due to gaps in between appointments, and lack of availability to see a provider have been major issues in traditional practices. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, suffered the most. These diseases are very demanding and require frequent visits with the provider which can be problematic in traditional practices.
Telemedicine has been a broad approach to treating acute illnesses such as colds and simple rashes so far. Even after covering all the common reasons for doctors’ visits, telemedicine was not able to provide chronic disease management until now. SugarMDs was created to meet this huge need in order to conveniently manage chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Let’s have a look at the impact of diabetes in America and where and how telemedicine for diabetes fell short in serving patients with diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans or 9.4% of the population had diabetes and its estimated that 1.5 million more Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each year. ¹ These staggering numbers posed several important questions such as “Are diabetic patients receiving the care that they need when and where they need it?” “Are these patients being educated and empowered to make changes that could save or improve their lives?” Are patients adequately monitored and treated by collecting patient data remotely? Did doctors act on the patient data instantly without waiting for them to end up in the hospital or urgent clinic? This is where telemedicine fell short. No specialty telehealth practice existed to support the growing diabetes population.
SugarMDs was created to provide the necessary care for patients struggling with the burden of diabetes. SugarMDs is currently the only specialty telemedicine practice powered by board certified Endocrinologists that focuses 100% on treating diabetes.
What Is SugarMDs and How Was It Originated?
The founder of SugarMDs, Dr. Ahmet Ergin, has been passionate about the treatment and prevention of diabetes since the beginning of his career. Dr. Ergin knew there had to be a better way to treat his patients with diabetes. With that drive and compassion, the seed was planted and SugarMDs came to bloom. Dr. Ergin earned his medical degree with honors at Marmara University School of Medicine in Istanbul, Turkey, and completed his internal medicine residency and endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.
How Does Telemedicine for Diabetes Improve Quality of Care?
At SugarMDs we believe telemedicine has the power to improve quality of care for the general patient population as well as in population suffering from diabetes. According to a recent study² which showed that with telemedicine, patients had:
- 38% fewer hospital admissions
- 31% fewer hospital re-admissions
- 63% more likely to spend fewer days in the hospital
- Were more engaged in their healthcare
To support telehealth and diabetes care specifically, one original research study conducted by the American Diabetes Association published in Diabetes Care, showed that telehealth effectively created access to successful Diabetes Self-management Education and intervention. The conclusion showed improved metabolic control and reduced cardiovascular risk in diverse and rural populations³.
Innovation in Diabetes Care
Innovative telehealth practice at SugarMDs is taking the guesswork out of managing diabetes. SugarMDs monitors patients via a bluetooth enabled glucometer as well as continuous glucose monitoring systems such as Dexcom and Libre with live tracking, monitoring and clinical intervention allowing patients to share data instantly either from their meter or from their continuous glucose monitoring devices. Patients no longer need to record glucose readings regardless of device they choose to use. They can now enjoy the peace of mind knowing that their blood sugars are monitored and treated by a specialty team supervised by endocrinologist doctors.
All results are transmitted to the SugarMDs care team for immediate interpretation and if needed, intervention. Patients receive instant alerts if their blood sugar is outside their predetermined range, or if they forget to test.
Why Makes Continuous Monitoring and Instant intervention So Important?
Diabetes is like a relentless thief trying to steal your health from you day and night. Like a security system for your home, SugarMDs monitors and keeps you safe. At SugarMDs patients can text or email their dedicated diabetes coach anytime, 24/7, and schedule virtual video visits with specialists for face-to-face support as needed.
A New Way of Managing Diabetes
SugarMDs members receive progress questionnaires weekly, bi-monthly or monthly, based on their preference to help their personalized care team identify how to help even more. Patients receive personalized scores which motivates them to improve their scores in time. Should scores drop, the SugarMDs team acts on it immediately.
Education is the key to obtaining and maintaining good diabetes health. The SugarMDs practice incorporates diabetes health coaches on the care team to educate and empower patients to improve lifestyle through healthy eating, exercise and problem solving. Physicians create written, audio and video content to educate patients.
The dedicated diabetes coach will send personalized, informative tips and articles that help with the biggest diabetes challenges that each individual member faces. SugarMDs members also receive access to monthly, interactive webinars that help achieve their healthiest lifestyle.
The diabetes specialist doctor assigned to each patient evaluate patients’ medications and make recommendations for more affordable and effective options. Diabetes care is so costly that savings can reach to thousands of dollars every year. Should prescriptions deemed necessary, they are sent directly to patients’ preferred pharmacy.
How Can You Save Money With SugarMDs?
SugarMDs works hard to reduce or eliminate the medications however when medications are necessary, physicians at SugarMDs advocate for patients to receive the best possible medications. For this to be accomplished, prior authorizations and or appeals are typically necessary. Most traditional practices avoid this process as it is very time consuming and costly. However, the doctors at SugarMDs dedicate their time to provide the best possible care. They are not intimidated by insurance companies. SugarMDs also finds and provides co-pay cards, vouchers and promotions to help patients with any out-of-pocket prescription expenses that they may accrue.
The personalized care team provides updates to members primary care doctors should they choose. This helps keep the primary care doctor stay in the loop.
SugarMDs knows that managing diabetes is a lifelong journey, and patients deserve to have the support they need, whenever they need it most—not just when it fits into their doctor’s busy schedule. With SugarMDs, the healthcare professionals come directly to the patients, saving time and money on a daily, weekly, monthly, and lifelong basis.
SugarMDs understands that every patient with diabetes is different. That’s why they currently offer two types of membership to fit a variety of needs. The “Coach Membership” offers one-time endocrinologist complementary evaluation, 24/7 Diabetes Support via text or email, monthly 30-minute formal diabetes coach assessments, remote live glucose and health monitoring, as well as weekly newsletters & personalized education.
The premium “Specialist and Coach Membership” option includes all of the benefits of the standard coach membership with the added benefits of regular video visits or calls with an Endocrinologist, remote live glucose and health monitoring, alerts & interventions, virtual e-Evaluations to track outcomes and patient advocacy on behalf of patients against insurance carriers. By being a member you can control your diabetes better than ever without even stepping in a doctor’s office.
Right now, SugarMDs is offering a limited time, free one-month trial for the Coach Membership option as well as free complimentary one time endocrinologist evaluation. This would be ideal for anyone with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes interested in what the SugarMDs service has to offer.
If you would like to see if SugarMDs is the right fit for you, take the online assessment by clicking the link below to get started.
In summary, telemedicine is becoming one of the fastest growing segments of healthcare and its no wonder why. Telemedicine is not only an asset for those acute conditions such as common colds, but now impact chronic conditions like diabetes. SugarMDs is leading the way to in telemedicine for patients with diabetes. Treating and monitoring diabetes utilizing SugarMDs telehealth service gives patients many advantages and provides all the tools and resources needed to dominate diabetes without having to wait for appointments or waiting hours to see the provider in the office. SugarMDs understands how stressful managing diabetes alone be. By providing 24/7 monitoring and treatment patients can rest easy knowing that someone will be with them every step of the way.
Join us at SugarMDs. Go to www.sugarMDs.com or call 1-800-644- EZMD(3963)
*Currently, SugarMDs services are approved for Florida residents over the age of 18.
Cited Sources:
- https://www.diabetes.org/resources/statistics/statistics-about-diabetes
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26065105
- https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/8/1712?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Diabetes_Care_TrendMD_0
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