A partnership between US IoT firm Kore and Dexcom is enabling remote patient monitoring of Covid-positive patients with diabetes.
 
Dexcom, a Californian specialist in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), is working with Georgia-based Kore to deliver remote patient monitoring to assist care providers during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
 
Using the Dexcom G6 CGM system, healthcare professionals can reduce both the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the number of in-person glucose level checks on patients who are receiving care for Covid-19 in the hospital.
 
To monitor the glucose levels of patients who are being treated for Covid-19, healthcare professionals (HCPs) must equip themselves with fresh PPE for each visit. Patients on insulin need several glucose checks per day, up to one per hour, meaning multiple PPEs are discarded each day, for each patient. With many hospitals and healthcare workers already experiencing a shortage or lack of proper PPE, the risk of exposure and infection grows significantly, as do the costs.
 
Dexcom’s product allows for continuous glucose monitoring by measuring glucose levels automatically every five minutes and transmitting the data to a handheld mobile device, which can be accessed from a safe distance. HCPs can then safely and accurately monitor blood glucose levels remotely, only using one set of PPE daily to change out the device, or other times immediate intervention is necessary.
 
“Doing all that we can to support the health and safety of the patients and healthcare workers currently battling this novel virus is a top priority for our company,” said Matt Dolan, senior vice president at Dexcom. “It’s our hope to reduce their exposure, eliminate unnecessary waste of limited PPE supplies and improve the efficiency of the hospitals who are treating these patients.”
 
Dexcom approached Kore Health to help launch this with record speed to increase protection for areas that need it most.
 
“Kore Health was able to procure fully certified and ISO-compliant devices, complete engineering testing and approval, identify connectivity and deploy the first wave of equipped devices in just over a week, ensuring rapid speed-to-market,” said Bryan Lubel, EVP of IoT managed services at Kore.
 
Romil Bahl, president and CEO at Kore, added: “We are in an unprecedented situation and the Kore team is looking for ways to help. When the Dexcom team approached us to help in short timeframes, our healthcare team was up to the challenge. We are honoured that our knowledge and experience in connectivity and device procurement, certification and deployment is playing a role in this innovation and that we are able to help in the global war against Covid-19.”