Newswise — The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) have partnered to release a new tool kit that guides healthcare professionals in the implementation of a professional continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) program within their health systems. Professional CGM programs offer people with diabetes the ability to use CGM devices for short periods of time so both they and their diabetes care team can optimize diabetes self-management through user-generated data.

“Research continues to support the use of CGM in diabetes management as a tool to help both the person with diabetes and the diabetes care team make more informed treatment decisions,” said AADE 2019 President Karen Kemmis, PT, RN, DPT, MS, GCS, CDE, FAADE. “However, it remains a relatively underutilized technology. We hope that by working with AANP to encourage the development of professional CGM programs, we can increase the adoption of CGM to the benefit of people with diabetes and those that serve them.”

Designed for primary care providers and the diabetes care and education specialist, the professional CGM toolkit brings together information available from multiple sources to provide an inclusive and unbiased approach to implementing provider-led CGM into a diabetes care practice.

“Nurse practitioners, diabetes care and education specialists and others in the diabetes care team have indicated there is a need for a simple, structured, comprehensive resource to build a professional CGM program,“ said AANP President Sophia Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP. “We look forward to working with AADE to train the diabetes care team to implement these programs to the benefit of people with diabetes.”

Implementing a program within a healthcare setting offers many advantages including:

  • Greater utilization of CGM for people with diabetes who may be reluctant to use CGM but would nevertheless benefit from a comprehensive review of their personal glucose patterns and glycemic variability to better modify behavior.
  • Promotion of self-motivated, data-driven behavior change and improved clinical outcomes through alignment of medication with behavior change resulting inlowered long-term healthcare costs for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
  • Acceleration of the use of personal CGM by building a bridge to individuals who will see the value of the device via a controlled experience.
  • Development of a new revenue stream and sustainability mechanism for health systems and diabetes self-management education and support programs.

The professional CGM toolkit will be available to AADE and AANP members in November 2019.  

About AADE AADE is a multi-disciplinary professional membership organization dedicated to improving diabetes care through innovative education, management and support. With more than 14,000 professional members including nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, exercise specialists, and others, AADE has a vast network of practitioners working with people who have, are affected by or are at risk for diabetes. Learn more at www.diabeteseducator.org, or visit us on Facebook (American Association of Diabetes Educators), Twitter (@AADEdiabetes) and Instagram (@AADEdiabetes).

About AANP

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of the more than 270,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NP patients and other health care consumers. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP represents the interests of NPs as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered health care. To locate a nurse practitioner in your community, go to npfinder.com. For more information about NPs, visit aanp.org.