This week has flown by for me in the sense of I’m trying to find where to fit in some rest-time to recover from Medtronic’s Diabetes Advocates Forum last week, but it seems to not be happening. I’m envious of other bloggers who have already been able to post updates and let you guys in on what happened. But I will do my best to share a few things and tell you as much as possible that I remember {trust me, it was a lot packed into that short little time!}.

Sidenote:  Let me just say that I am totally in awe of David for blogging DURING the forum. He did an excellent job, and if you would like to view the post, you can do so HERE. {But be sure to come back, k? }

The first session in the meeting was led by Greg Meehan, General Manager of CGM Business. { Greg was also at my table at dinner the night before. This guy has a serious passion for the CGM side of Medtronic, plus, he’s super-cool because he grew up very close to where I live. Haha! Just kidding. } Greg spoke about the current CGM technology that we have today, and how the new sensor – the Enlite – will be a large improvement over what we have now.  Not only will there be better algorithms for more accurate tracking {yey!}, but the new sensor will also be a 6-day sensor – twice the time wear-ability over the current CGM sensor.

What is sad is that the system for the Enlite CGM sensor is available in other countries, but not here in the US. Good news is Medtronic is getting their ducks in a row to send everything over to the FDA for approval, so hopefully we will see it soon. Why does it take so long for them to send things in to the FDA? In a chat later in the day, it was explained that they have found that when dealing with the FDA, it is better for them to have as much paperwork and testing together as possible to send in to avoid any possible questioning by the FDA that may slow the process down. They have found that in doing this, the process is much faster and they have a better chance at approval. We may not like the snail-speed, but it’s better for us in the long run. {Remember: Good things come to those who wait.}

One thing they have gotten approval for is the mySentry device. For those of you who don’t know what this is, basically it is a relay  monitor for the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. It shows a status of the insulin pump and sensor, as well as a trend graph of the pump users CGM data. The great thing about this device is that parents can now sleep more soundly knowing that the mySentry will alarm and alert them of different statuses – whether the pump user is low, high, etc. And it’s not just for parents of children who wear the pump (though that was what they had in mind when it was being developed). For people like Sara who live alone and can’t always hear the alarms, or even me – though I’m married with a baby, I can sleep through alarms like a champ and so can Erik. The security of knowing there is a way to have a higher alarm to wake you up, not to mention being able to take a quick glance at the screen before bed for full info about your pump is very nice.

{One thing I’m really jealous of, though, is everything available in an instant on that screen – pump battery, reservoir, cgm battery, and days left on sensor – all right there, in bright colors. I want that on my pump screen too. /disgress}

They have had this for a while, but we actually got to see it demo’ed in person! Several people videoed it {which, I tried, but my iPhone ran out of memory… Too many pictures, I guess. }, one of which was Cherise, and you can find them here on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.  Currently, the price of the mySentry is $3000. And yes, that is a HUGE amount, but they are currently working with insurers to try and get coverage for this product. As of the meeting date, they had just gotten approval from an insurance company in Florida to cover it. Their goal is to get it covered just as an insulin pump would be, but just like the insulin pump, it takes baby steps. Even to this day, some still have trouble to get CGMs covered by their insurance since it is still considered relatively new technology. So, in essence, the mySentry is a brand-new newborn and companies aren’t willing to cover it until they know what medical value it has for the patient.

{Aaandd, cue disclosure!}

When explaining how coverage for new products work, we were let in on a little secret. A lot of insurance companies not only go on what the company says in terms of how “helpful” the product may be, but it also goes on demand from the customer and the doctor. A lot of times, the doctors aren’t requesting the device or information about the device because they don’t know about it or don’t quite understand what it is. One of the big links in this process is the patient voice. Our voice plays a big roll in medical device approval. So, in hopes that our voice will be heard a little more, they offered to let us use the mySentry device, along with – if needed – a Revel insulin pump + CGM  system or Guardian CGM system (provided we take the necessary steps with getting doctor prescriptions, as that is something that is always needed) for a 3-month period. In return, they want our feedback on the device so that they can have a larger patient-voice to approach insurance companies with, so that hopefully we can get the ball rolling and get better insurance coverage for the device for those of you who need it. So, remember: bigger patient voice + better doctor knowledge + more customer experience stories = hopes for better, easier insurance coverage.

So, look for those posts coming soon. We haven’t gotten an estimated date on when that will happen, but I do know they are working on getting all the necessary paperwork together for us to start the trial.

The rest I’ll blog about over a couple of days next week since tomorrow I will be featuring a new FridayFind, also brought to you by the Diabetes Advocates Forum.

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