San Francisco-based Carbon Health designed its endocrinologist-led platform to integrate with primary care. A certified team of diabetes educators supports the completely virtual platform. It offers accessibility to patients with no waiting or travel time involved.
Carbon Health’s electronic health record (EHR) integrates data from continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). This enables seamless care coordination across the care team. Patients can log meals and medications alongside their CGM data in the Carbon Health patient app.
To date, the program helped two-thirds of its patients with uncontrolled diabetes achieve and maintain recommended glycemic targets. According to a news release, patients with baseline A1c >9.0% demonstrated an average A1c reduction of 4.2%.
“Diabetes care traditionally involves fingerstick glucose monitoring and quarterly visits. We’re flipping that on its head with our measurement-based, personalized, and proactive diabetes program,” said Myoung Cha, chief strategy officer at Carbon Health. “We’re the only healthcare provider to integrate a combination of blood glucose data from a CGM device with food, physical activity, and medication into our EHR to allow patients and their interdisciplinary care teams – including primary care providers – to have incredibly powerful insights at their fingertips.
“This continuous data better enables our care team to manage our patients virtually and offer proactive support when they need it the most, avoiding one-size-fits-all advice and broken handoffs.”
More on the digital diabetes platform
A recent analysis of 204 patients in the program demonstrated that 66.8% with baseline A1c ≥7.0% met the guideline-recommended 70% time in range in their latest four weeks of available CGM data. Additionally, 54% of that cohort reached 70% time in range in their first four weeks of the program. They maintained that target thereafter. Carbon Health said this means they presented rapid and effective achievement of glycemic control.
Carbon Health also introduced new enhancements to its program. That includes meal rankings that show the connection between meals and blood sugar changes. It also features peer support for open discussions and virtual group learning sessions.
The platform’s educational content expanded to increase patient knowledge. It provides an evidence-based comparison of popular diets and strategies for eating healthy on the road. Carbon Health also introduced bi-weekly notifications to support patients, both highlighting goal achievement and indicating when they need help.
“We’re proud of the outcomes that are driving real change for our patients,” said Dr. Calvin Wu, medical director of the diabetes program and endocrinologist at Carbon Health. “It’s truly only by leveraging this integrated primary care model that we are able to offer our patients care that is simple, flexible, and personal.”
