PREPARE 4 CGM

Patients are asking for Continuous Glucose Monitoring…is your practice ready? PREPARE 4 CGM

The goal of the Primary Care Education and Practice Adoption Resource Evaluation for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (PREPARE 4 CGM) study is to test feasible, scalable, and economical ways to implement continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) into primary care practices. This project is funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust and is coordinated through the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

What is Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM)? As seen during the Super Bowl and direct consumer advertising, these devices, which are inserted just under the skin with a sensor, reads the glucose in the fluid under the skin and gives a blood glucose reading. The transmitter captures the sensor reading and sends them to another device for the wearer to see – so the patient can monitor their blood glucose levels in real time – with no fingersticks!

Why Train Primary Care Practices to Use CGM with Their Patients? Primary care takes care of 90% of patients with type 2 diabetes and 50% of adults with type 1 diabetes. Recent research has shown that use of CGM in patients with diabetes lowers HbA1c, helps identify and correct patterns of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, gives feedback on lifestyle modification, increases quality of life – and – patients like it better than fingersticks!

PREPARE 4 CGM Study:

This project is engaging primary care practices in Colorado who would like to implement CGM for their patients with diabetes. Practices will be randomized to:

Implementation of CGM into practice through the use of a CGM AAFP toolkit.
Implementation of CGM into practice with the assistance of a practice facilitator for the use of CGM AAFP toolkit.

OR practices can choose to refer their patients with diabetes to a Virtual CGM Initiation Service, which will initiate the use of CGM, and coordinate care with the primary care practice.

What will the Practice Receive for Participation in this Project?

Training and workflows for implementing CGM into your practice.
Assistance with obtaining CGM monitors for your patients.
Assistance with billing and coding for CGM visits.
$4000 over 2 years of participation to offset project-related activities

Track information about patients invited to participate in study: name and contact information
With the support of the CGM project team, report A1c and BMI for patients participating in the study. Practice may elect to report this clinical data or have the CGM project team perform chart audits.
Complete baseline, 6- and 12-month surveys (e.g., aggregate demographics of patient population, implementation of various CGM activities, number of CGM prescriptions)
A few practices will be selected for site visits and brief interviews of three practice members regarding the project. Practice members who take part in interviews will receive a $50 gift card for participation.