CGM User Experience Program Expands to NPs and PAs at MCT2D practices
Curious to try a CGM? Get a free trial monitor and sensor as part of the MCT2D Continuous Glucose Monitor User Experience Program. This program is open to Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Physicians at any MCT2D practice with the goal of building primary care clinicians' familiarity with using a CGM and ultimately, increasing understanding of the patient experience through off-label provider trial, administered by MCT2D.
Complete your enrollment form before Friday, September 15 to be included in our first round of CGM orders.
MIssed the September 15 order cut off? You can complete enrollment by November 17, 2023 to be included in our second round of CGM orders.
The Michigan Collaborative for Type 2 Diabetes is expanding its CGM User Experience Program in Summer 2023. MCT2D is excited to announce that now ALL physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants that work at an MCT2D participating practice are eligible to receive a CGM to wear.
First launched in 2021, the program provided a CGM to interested primary care practice Clinical Champions to wear on themselves with the goal of clinicians better understanding the patient experience of CGM. It is difficult for clinicians to feel fully comfortable prescribing a piece of technology they have never used before, and in the case of many primary care clinicians, never even been shown before.
This program is an opportunity to provide clinicians with personal CGM experience, and its expansion will build on our early success. This unique program that allowed for off-label use of CGMs without a prescription received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participating MCT2D members.
Blair Hunt, who represents the Bronson Medical Group, had this to say:
Having clinicians who have first-hand experience with a CGM will allow them to educate the patient in a real-world, tangible way. Being able to explain how to apply the sensor and what they can expect from the device is an invaluable component to the patient education experience. Aside from gaining perspective of what the patient may experience, wearing the trial CGM gave me valuable information about my own health!
Read Blair’s full CGM experience
Easy, durable, with a few surprising midnight alarms - What it’s like to try a CGM as a member of MCT2D
Trying out a CGM helped Blair gain perspective on what patients may go through and brought with it new conversations with family and strangers. Blair Hunt is the Clinical Integration Program Coordinator for Bronson Healthcare and representative for the Bronson Medical Group.
For any clinician trying the CGM, I would give the following advice:
- Go into the experience with an open mind! Try not to have any expectations for what you think the experience will be like.
- Don’t change your lifestyle drastically for the CGM experience! Aside from gaining perspective of what the patient may experience, wearing the trial CGM gave me valuable information about my own health. This was because I didn’t try to “clean up” or change anything I was already doing in the first few days.
- Be open to having people in the community ask you about it! My sensor was on my arm so when I wore t-shirts, it was visible. I welcomed the questions from people I didn’t know because it was an opportunity to share this technology.
- Scan at the intervals you would expect your patient to scan at. For me, it wasn’t the full experience if I didn’t scan before meals, first thing in the morning, and before bed. This helped me understand the expectations we place on our patients.
- Investigate all the error codes and alarms. Again, this helped me understand what the patient must do to have accurate readings and trends and where there may be barriers to troubleshooting.
Which CGM device did you use?
I used the Abbott FreeStyle 2 CGM provided by the MCT2D Program.
How were you feeling before putting on the sensor?
I was a little apprehensive about putting on the sensor as I have not ever had anything like this before. I did find the instructions a little complex – I was looking for the quick reference guide and realized I was already looking at it. I did not believe it would be that easy to apply.
What surprised you about the experience?
I was surprised by many things with this experience:
- The sensor was easy and pain free to apply and to take off.
- The pairing with my phone was very easy. Just scan the sensor!
- The sensor was very durable. I accidentally bumped it multiple times, forgetting it was there and never dislodged or became loose. I didn’t have to use additional adhesives.
- The phone app worked well and would alarm if I needed to scan or if the sensor wasn’t being “sensed.”
- The alarm on the phone app was very loud if my blood sugar was low – I didn’t expect it to wake me up or hear it from across the house.
Any particular successes in the process?
- Easy to apply the sensor.
- Absolutely no pain with the sensor. Pain-free application and I accidentally bumped it multiple times and never felt it.
- Sensor stayed in place for entire two weeks until I removed it.
- I loved the app. It kept track of how many days were left on the sensor as well! It was one less thing for me to think about.
- CGM alerted me to several low blood sugars, most in the middle of the night
How about failures or challenges?
I don’t have any failures from using the CGM. It was overall a great experience. I will say these were the minor inconveniences I noticed:
- There were times I would get the Signal Loss Alarm. Reading up on the Error Codes, I realized this meant I didn’t have my phone within near enough to me for the sensor to communicate with the Freestyle Libre App. I am not used to having my phone so close to me at all times.
- As my sensor was getting closer to its time to exchange it, having to scan my sensor twice for a reading became more frequent.
Did you experience any reactions from others in your life, while wearing it?
Outside of my family, I did have a couple of people at the store ask about the sensor. One was interested in how it worked, how it stayed on my skin, and what it felt like. The other individual told me he was Diabetic and had been talking with his Physician about one. The gentleman told me he wasn’t sure about having a CGM and asked me about how often the sensor is applied, how often I could scan it, what it felt like, and if I had any trouble with it. I love talking with patients, so for me, these were welcome conversations! I loved being able to talk about this device.
Did your awareness of your health behaviors change while wearing the CGM? How so?
My health behaviors did change a little bit based on this experience. I did not know I was hypoglycemic as much as I was, especially in the middle of the night. I have started to incorporate more protein snacks or smaller, frequent meals throughout the day instead of having long gaps in between eating. I have been able to correlate how I was feeling with my blood sugar. I was placed on steroids for a sinus infection during this process as well and it was interesting to see how the steroids affected my blood sugar.
What are your big takeaways from the process?
My big takeaways from this process were how simple, easy and convenient it was to have a CGM on. I was expecting placing and then wearing the CGM to have more to it or to have to constantly be doing something with either the sensor, but it was very hands-off and almost ran itself outside of scanning. I liked being able to trend the data and look back at my lows (or highs on steroids) and correlate this with my day.
How could this experience translate to patient care?
Having clinicians who have first-hand experience with the CGM will allow them to educate the patient in a real-world, tangible way. Being able to explain how to apply the sensor and what they can expect from the device is invaluable component to the patient education experience. Some patients may be struggling with the decision to have a CGM and talking to someone who has experience with it can help alleviate concerns or other questions otherwise not answered by someone without that knowledge.
Any other thoughts on the program or advice to other members who take advantage of the MCT2D CGM User Experience Program?
I would love if MCT2D could continue to provide trial CGMs for clinicians! Doing this helped me gain perspective on the CGM experience and what diabetic patients may go through! It really opened my eyes to how CGMs work and how powerful of a tool they are in the management of diabetes.
Steps to Receive a CGM
- Complete the Interest Form. Clinical champions may complete the form for providers at their practices). Clinical champions who have previously received a CGM through the MCT2D User Experience Program are not eligible to receive another.
- View the CGM Training Video. This is a requirement for off label use.
- Sign the attestation that you have watched the CGM Training Video.
- As soon as the Interest Form and the Attestation are complete, the MCT2D team will ship you your CGM.
Steps to complete the MCT2D CGM Program
- Set Up: In the box that the CGM comes in, you will receive instructions on how to apply the device. If you need additional assistance please reach out to the MCT2D team and we will be happy to help!
- End of Program Survey: After you have completed the 2 week wear period, complete a brief survey about your experience. Your input will help us to continue our advocacy efforts to make CGMs more accessible in primary care clinics across the State of Michigan.
You must be a participating physician, PA, or NP at an MCT2D primary care practice. Questions? Contact us at ccteam@mct2d.org.
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