In The News
Clinical practice guidelines endorse the use of CGM, and CMS recently expanded coverage for this technological intervention. However, disparities due to racial/ethnic bias, insurance coverage, and healthcare literacy present barriers to equitable diabetes care and access to CGM. Data show that members of minority populations, those with lower socioeconomic status and those without private insurance are disproportionately affected by diabetes and have lower rates of CGM use. This article, published in Managed Healthcare Executive, notes that payers should place greater emphasis on expanding patient education programs. In addition, further action must be taken to inform patients and to increase adoption and dissemination of new diabetes care technology. In addition to enhancing provider knowledge of CGM and its role in optimal patient care, managed care and payer professionals are tasked with ensuring that unnecessary barriers do not exist in current coverage policies.
In an accompanying video series, Estay Greene, PharmD, MBA, provides insights on ways to improve the care of patients with diabetes from the payer persepective, with a focus on data supporting the use of CGM. Diana Isaacs, PharmD, BCPS, BC-ADM, BCACP, CDCES, FADCES, FCCP, and David Hines also share their perspectives on social determinants of health in diabetes management and overcoming disparities in care with appropriate use of CGM.
Learn MoreThis Payer IMPACT Brief summarizes the key points of a Satellite Symposium held at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2024 Annual Meeting.
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Intended Audience: This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of managed care pharmacy directors, registered nurses, clinical pharmacists, quality directors and medical directors.
Credit Available: Up to 1.0 credit hour available for nurses (ANCC), pharmacists (ACPE), and physicians (AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™)
Expiration Date: December 31, 2025
Click here to begin!Educational Objectives
After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:
- Describe recent updates to HEDIS measures in diabetes care, including opportunities associated with glucose management indicator (GMI) and an increased focus on equity
- Describe the synergistic impact of CGM and GLP-1 agonists
- Outline health plan best practices and strategies for streamlined coverage, access, and value of CGM
Expert Faculty
Clinical Pharmacist, Medicare Stars & Clinical Quality
Optum Rx
Jointly provided by Impact Education, LLC, and Medical Education Resources.
This continuing education activity is supported by an independent educational grant from Dexcom, Inc. Medical Affairs.
A poster presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s (AMCP) annual meeting in New Orleans, LA, shared data from a health initiative by Metro Nashville Public Schools. The employer provided CGM devices as a pharmacy benefit without prior authorization. This policy change led to a two-fold increase in CGM utilization among employees aged 18 to 64 years with T1D and T2D regardless of treatment regimen. The retrospective analysis, covering 184 participants, showed significant improvements in glycemic control associated with CGM use. Specifically, average A1c decreased from 8.7% to 7.9% and from 7.6% to 6.8% among those with T2D treated with insulin and not-treated with insulin, respectively. Additionally, CGM use resulted in a significant improvement in the proportion of individuals meeting the HEDIS and ADA HbA1c targets of <8.0% and <7.0%, respectively. These results underscore the potential benefits of CGM for improving diabetes management through streamlined health care payer and purchaser coverage.
Learn MoreThe poster outlines best practices for health plan coverage and access to Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) for diabetes management, emphasizing the technology’s transformative impact on care. It recommends aligning coverage criteria with current medical evidence, enhancing utilization oversight, and improving access for underserved populations. Strategies include offering CGM under pharmacy benefits, educating healthcare providers and patients, and developing support systems for at-risk groups. The best practices, derived from expert interviews, a national survey, and a workshop, aim to assist health plan decision makers in optimizing diabetes outcomes and managing healthcare costs efficiently.
Learn MoreA retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open showed that CGM use was associated with lower odds of developing diabetic retinopathy (DR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Among 550 adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) included in the analysis, 62.7% patients used CGM, 58.2% used an insulin pump, and 47.5% used both. After adjusting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, diabetes duration, microvascular and macrovascular complications, insurance type, and mean HbA1c, CGM was associated with lower odds of DR (odds ratio [OR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.84; P=0.008) and PDR (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.23-0.75; P =0.004), compared with no CGM use. These findings show that CGM can be beneficial preventing DR—the leading cause of blindness among adults in the United States—even in individuals with well managed T1D.
Liu TYA, Shpigel J, Khan F, Smith K, Prichett L, Channa R, Kanbour S, Jones M, Abusamaan MS, Sidhaye A, Mathioudakis N, Wolf RM. Use of Diabetes Technologies and Retinopathy in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Mar 4;7(3):e240728.
Learn MoreThe ADA Standards of Care include all of of the organization’s current clinical practice recommendations and are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payers, and others stakeholders with best practices in diabetes management, general treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. The recommendations are based on an extensive review of the clinical diabetes literature, supplemented with input from ADA staff and the medical community at large. These comprehensive guidelines are updated annually, or more frequently online if new evidence or regulatory changes merit immediate incorporation In alignment with previous versions of the ADA Standards of Care, the 2024 update highlights the clinical benefit of CGM across a wide range of patient types based on a growing body of evidence.
Learn MoreWhile CGM systems were initially prescribed predominantly for patients with T1D, the mounting body of literature and expert recommendations have led to more widespread use in insulin-treated T2D and beyond. Based on RCT and real world evidence supporting CGM use in T2D and published literature demonstrating the utility of CGM in population health, 4 payer and 5 health system experts convened virtually to share their insights on the integration of this technology in current programs. This article provides a review of key evidence discussed by these stakeholders and findings from the meeting, with recommendations for the implementation of T2D population health programs integrating CGM with other interventions.
Learn MoreThis video resource highlights evidence—presented at the 83rd American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions—demonstrating the clinical, economic, and humanistic value of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) for managed care and payer professionals. Abstracts presented in this video underscore the burden of hypoglycemia in T2D and the potential for CGM to improve clinical outcomes and manage disease-related costs regardless of treatment regimen or prescriber type. Key areas of focus pertinent to managed care and payer professionals include the benefits of CGM initiation on Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measure performance, utilization of emergency department/hospital services, and patient adherence. This information is delivered in a multimedia infographic format, with quotes from managed care and payer key opinion leaders interspersed for maximum impact. The video concludes with a summary of best practices to facilitate streamlined coverage and access to CGM in alignment with the latest clinical evidence and expert recommendations.
CGM has advanced diabetes management, with demonstrated improvements in glycemic management, reduction of hypoglycemia-related resource utilization, and enhanced member engagement and self-management. While this technology was initially prescribed predominantly for those living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the mounting body of evidence and expert recommendations have led to more widespread use in insulin-treated T2D, necessitating the implementation of evidence-based benefit design policies by health plans. During this working group meeting, leading payer and managed care decision makers reviewed recent findings and shared their insights on best practices for CGM coverage and reimbursement, including alignment with clinical practice guidelines, availability under the pharmacy benefit, and automated adjudication at the point of sale.
 Jim Kenney, RPh, MBA (Moderator)Founder and President JTKenney, LLC | Clinical Pharmacist, Healthcare and Family Services Bureau of Professional and Ancillary Services University of Illinois at Chicago |
 Thomas Grace, MDMedical Director Blanchard Valley Diabetes Center |  Estay Greene, PharmD, MBAVice President of Pharmacy Zing Health |
 Eric Long, PharmD, MBADisease Management Pharmacist Beacon Health System |  Scott McClelland, PharmDVice President, Commercial and Specialty Pharmacy Programs Florida Blue |
 Josh Moore, PharmDDirector of Pharmacy MO HealthNet Division Missouri Department of Social Services |  Diane E. Morgan, PharmDDirector, Specialty Pharmacy Government Programs Pharmacy UnitedHealthcare  |
 Heather Mullins, PMPSenior Clinical Program Manager UnitedHealthcare |  Susan Wescott, RPh, MBAExecutive Lead, Clinical Services, Alluma, LLC Senior Director of Pharmacy, Managed Care, Mayo Clinic |
In support of this working group, a survey of managed care professionals was conducted. Click here to download the results.