Tandem presented new studies at the recent ADA conference and got approval for some of the youngest people with diabetes to use their newest tech. Steph Habif is Tandem’s Senior Director of Behavioral Sciences. She shares what those studies found, gives us more information about Control IQ and touches on what products are up next for the company.
Check out Stacey's new book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Listen to our previous episodes with Tandem Diabetes
In Tell Me Something Good, great news about college scholarships for students with type 1.
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Sign up for our newsletter here
-----
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
-----
Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go!
Click here for iPhone Click here for Android
Episode Transcript:
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop created for people with diabetes by people who have diabetes and by Dexcom , take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom .
Announcer 0:16
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 0:22
This week, Tandem presented new studies at the recent ADA conference and got approval for some of the youngest people with diabetes to use their newest technology. But Tandem is also keeping a close eye on including many more people in future studies.
Steph Habif 0:37
It's a shared responsibility across many communities to figure out how to make it easier for different types of people to be included in this research.
Stacey Simms 0:48
That's Steph Habif, Tandem’s Senior Director of Behavioral Sciences. We'll talk more about what communities she means there and why Tandem wants to reach out more. And of course, we talked about Control IQ And what's next for Tandem? In Tell me something good great news about college scholarships for students with type one.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of Diabetes Connections. I am so glad to have you along. I am your host Stacey Simms. We aim to educate and inspire about diabetes by sharing stories of connection. This time of year we are sharing a lot of stories about technology and studies and that is because the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions conference has recently concluded so every year at this time, there's new information.
Sometimes it is also timed with FDA approvals like we saw last week with the Libre 2 and with Tandems approval that we're going to talk about for the Control IQ software to be used down to age six. It means a lot of information. It means some bonus episodes, it means some playing with the schedule. Because just trying to get this information out in podcast form can be a little bit more difficult. But you know, that's what I am here for what I love to do
If you're new, my son was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes right before he turned to my husband lives with type two diabetes. I don't have diabetes, I have a background in broadcasting and local radio and television news. And that's how you get this podcast. And just a quick note about my son Benny, I realized the other day, so we're 13 and a half years in with type one, which means we're coming up July 4 which his 13 year anniversary of wearing an insulin pump, which I cannot believe and I remember it like it was yesterday. So I'm going to maybe do an episode or talk about that in another episode, looking back on what's changed and you know how to pick an insulin pump and all that kind of stuff, but oh my gosh, oh, I can't believe he's 15.
Speaking of Benny, the world's worst diabetes mom is now available in more places. My publisher reached out to me. We are now sold online at Target and Barnes and Noble and pretty much expanding to every place You can buy a book online, I didn't realize this was a thing that we started on Amazon and now we are elsewhere, which shows that it's a good thing that I have these people to help me out. But it's also available in library form. And I'm still investigating this. So as you listen, if you get ebooks, that's the library form, it would have to be an E book, you know, Kindle or something like that. If you have a service that gets you library books, check it out, let me know where it is. Because I haven't been able to exactly track that down with COVID. I think there's some issues. I'm trying to get the hardcopy into libraries too. So that's something that you could really help me out with.
And I have to give a big shout out to Molly Cooper. Molly lives in the UK. She sent me a message that she really enjoyed the book. It was so nice of her to reach out like that. So of course, I asked her a little bit about it. You know, I have some UK readers, but I'm interested in the process. There's a different Amazon site for different countries. So I was just interested in how it all worked. And then she posted in one of the diabetes parenting Facebook groups that she belonged in, and oh my god. Molly, thank you so much. A bunch of people talked about the book. And it was such a nice thing for you to do.
So if you've read and enjoyed the world's worst diabetes Mom, I always ask please leave a review on Amazon that helps us so much when people are looking to see if they want to buy the book or get the book. But if you could also post in your Facebook group or on your timeline about it and tag me, but it would be so helpful to spread the word because let's face it, this isn't gonna show up in the New York Times Review of Books, right we have the community to spread the word and it may be immodest to say but I do think it's a book that can help people it's not just our story. There's a lot of advice in there and a lot of learning that I did over the years, I believe very much in it and I really appreciate those of you who are already spreading the word if you're ready and you don't like it forget you know me!
In just a moment I'm going to be talking to Tandem’s, Steph Habif about Control IQ, new studies and lots more. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by a One Drop and getting diabetes supplies. It's a pain let's face it. Not only the ordering the people up the arguing with insurance over what they say you need and what you really need. Make it easy with One Drop. They have our personalized tester plans, plus you get a Bluetooth glucose meter test strips lancets and your very own certified diabetes coach. Subscribe today to get test strips for less than $20 a month delivered right to your door. No prescriptions no co pays required. One less thing to worry about. not that surprising when you learn the founder of One Drop lips with type one, they get it One Drop gorgeous gear supplies delivered to your door 24 seven access to your certified diabetes coach learn more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the One Drop logo.
My guest this week is Steph Habif. She is the Senior Director of Behavioral Sciences at Tandem which means she really advocates for the people who use the technology. She presented some of the studies we're gonna be talking about at ADA and of course has presented elsewhere and a quick note if you are new to the show, we use The Tandem system. They're not a sponsor of the show, but I know I am biased toward Tandem. So I want to make that disclosure. First thing I just love the way it works. Look, it's not perfect nothing is but we have been using Tandem for three years now. We switched from Animas insulin pump in August of 2017, just as the Dexcom G 5 update was approved for for Tandem. So basically we got a pump and then we immediately updated the software. We have done two other updates the basal IQ last year and we went to Control IQ in late January pretty much just as it hit the market. I can't believe it has been six months already. So well. I don't think that influenced the actual questions I'm asking. It certainly influences how I feel about the system. So here is my interview with Tandems, Steph Habif.
Steph, thank you for joining me. I'm so excited to talk about Tandem and learn more. Thanks for being here.
Steph Habif 6:55
Thanks for having me. I've been a listener of yours for a while so it's a real pleasure. Thank you very much
Stacey Simms 7:02
this year's ADA very different may start by just asking you what that was like for you to to present and have to do everything virtually.
Steph Habif 7:08
Yeah, it was definitely, I think unique and interesting experience for a lot of us especially people who regularly attend the ADA each year. And I'm not gonna lie. My favorite part about the event is getting to see people and kind of have very energized Creative Conversations together in person, I think a lot of brainstorming and some of the best ideas, birth from, you know, getting together with kids from all over the world at meetings like that. So that part was kind of missing, obviously this year. But given what's happening in the world, I think it was put on fabulously well produced really, really nicely. The excitement leading up to the conference was there that was a part of my experience this year for sure, like every year, and then it all happens through email and chat and tech So my eyes hurt. At the end of the conference, I think my eyesight has taken a little bit of a hit in the past couple months, like a lot of other people. But there was some very exciting information that got presented.
Stacey Simms 8:12
Yeah, let's talk about some of that. We've talked about Control IQ in depth before its launch or right as it was launched. Tell us about some of the presentations here. I know one of them was Control IQ in the real world, the first 30 days. Tell me about that.
Steph Habif 8:29
Yeah, so that was a proud moment for me and my team, the scientific posters that we presented at this year's ADA. I think one of the people you have had on your podcast to talk about Control IQ is Molly Malloy and she's on my team here at Tandem, we get to work together. She was one of the researchers whose name was on these presentations at ADA and the first 30 days. That was really our first look under the hood, so to speak. So one of the things that my team here at Tandem is responsible for is post market surveillance and user experience research. Meaning once the FDA approves or clears a medical device, like the T slim X2 and people start using it in their everyday lives, the job of my team is to observe, measure, learn, how's that going for people? whether it has to do with their glycemic outcomes, like time and range, or quality of life, things like how's your sleep? Those are all the things that we're responsible for researching and studying. Now, what we did for a DEA was we didn't have very much time with Control IQ in the market before the ADA deadline presented itself.
So Control IQ came to the US market starting mid January, and we had to have all of our materials submitted to ADA by the second week of March, so not a lot of time. So like I said, sort of first look Under the hood, meaning we went into our databases into our T Connect web application, back end systems, and we use some research methodologies to kind of see how it was going for people. What sort of glycemic trends and outcomes were we seeing for the early adopters right out of the gate, and we specifically focused on folks who software updated. So I think Benny's a software updater - he was on Basal IQ leading up to Control IQ. And how old is Benny? Again? He's 15. So he was probably included in our analysis. Absolutely. So sorry, no. Yeah, so anybody who was age 14 or older and had at least 21 days of use on control, IQ technology, leading up to march 11, was included in this analysis. So
Stacey Simms 10:52
he was he was definitely in there. And you would have seen a great response. I don't mind telling you.
Steph Habif 10:56
Yeah, so this information that we presented at ADA Like I said, we didn't have that much time. So really data mining to look at glycemic outcomes. So it was a retrospective data analysis exercise, essentially, which is a very common thing to do when it's your first look at sort of what's happening in the real world. And we were really pleased to discover that overall real world users are experiencing an increase in time and range of 10%. Before updating to Control IQ. The folks in this study had a time in range of about 68%. And throughout their first 30 days on controlling IQ, they experienced an increase to get that overall time and range metric to 78%. And what's exciting about that is that 10% jump matches what we saw in our control, IQ clinical trial.
Stacey Simms 11:53
Did you have any data about ease of use? In other words, do people continuously use it? Did people have sensor issues? If you have have problems figuring out how to adjust anything I know it's it's tough to glean in such a short time. I'm just curious if you learned anything else.
Steph Habif 12:06
So for the purpose of what we presented at ADA, we kind of kept it really simple. Again, because we didn't have very much time we mined data we we worked with what was available to us. And so we really focused on things like changes in time and range hyperglycemia hypoglycemia, and we didn't for the purposes of what was presented at ADA, talk about quality of life, things like sleep improvement, but what we do know is that for the folks who were included in this analysis, overall, they experienced the percent of time in closed loop automation was 96%. And that's really exciting. Now for the Control IQ technology system. The only reason a user isn't in automation is if they lose connection with their CGM for 20 or more minutes, that's it. And then once CGM is reconnected automatically, you're back in that automation close loop. So that's really elegant and simple. And that came through in these metrics that we presented at ADA.
Stacey Simms 13:17
Yeah. So that's interesting. I mean, not to jump to a conclusion. But let me just make sure I'm hearing you right. So we can pretty much conclude if 96% of people using Control IQ, excuse me, if people using Control IQ stayed using it 96% of the time in automation. That means that their sensors were working that things were chugging along just as they should.
Steph Habif 13:35
Yes. And thank you for bringing that up. So we have some consensus guidelines on data integrity for this type of research. When you're doing real world research like this, the guideline is for the purposes of data integrity, to include CGM rates that are 70 to 75% or above. So what that means is in our analyses for the ADA we included people who had at least 75% CGM connectivity over that 60 day period. Now in the clinical trial for Control IQ, the investigators reported CGM connectivity in the high 90s. That was a way that we could sort of control for that variable given that we were doing a retrospective data analysis, if that makes sense.
Stacey Simms 14:27
Yeah, it does. Because it's really important. And you know, this people in the diabetes community, there's separate issues here, right? There's Control IQ. There's the Tandem pump, but there's the Dexcom sensors, which Listen, it's not a Dexcom interview here. But we've talked a lot on this podcast about people who just have trouble with the sensors, and sensor failures and things. So I'm glad to hear you clarify because I'll be honest, that 96% number didn't really sound real world to me, but it makes a lot more sense when you understand that it's already looking at people who have good sensor luck. I don't know what to call it. Good sensor usage or It lasts.
Unknown Speaker 15:01
Connectivity.
Stacey Simms 15:03
Yes, connectivity, that’s what I was looking for. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. There was another study, if I'm reading this correctly about people with type one and type two, use the Control IQ. I didn't know anybody was type two was was really using it. Can you speak to that?
Steph Habif 15:16
Yeah, that's pretty cool. So it turns out we have a fairly present segment of our customer base that have insulin dependent type two diabetes. And so again, first look under the hood, we sort of sat there and we were curious, and we said, well, we have some people who are updating software updating to Control IQ who report that they have type two diabetes, I wonder if they're experiencing things differently than folks with Type One Diabetes. And it turns out that both people with type one and type two diabetes are experiencing significant improvements in time and range with use of Control IQ. So the second publication that we presented at ADA was looking at glycine outcomes type one versus type two. Now you've heard me say that folks with type one in our analyses experienced a nine or 10% increase in time and range as a result of their software update. And for folks with type two, that was a 6% increase in time and range. But here's the really cool part, the analysis that we did for looking at the difference between type one and type two, we required a minimum of 14 days of use leading up to the software update, and then 14 days of use after the software update, which is half the amount of time from our first analyses. And so what that means is by seeing that our folks with type one got to a 9% improvement in time arrange, it means that those improvements are happening really quickly, right after the software update.
Stacey Simms 16:46
That's really interesting. I want a little dig a little deeper into some of these studies. But I also want to kind of do some bullet points here. So let's talk about Control IQ okayed for young children, because I just happened. Yeah, can you speak to what those studies found? Was there anything different or anything parents of children down to the age of six now should be thinking about anything different?
Steph Habif 17:06
I don't really think so. We recently, just a couple days ago, got our FDA clearance for the pediatric indication for Control IQ for children's six year old Jr. Before then it was previously approved for ages 14 and older. We know investigators have been doing research and even younger populations. But right now we're only approved down to age six. And what the clinical trial that focused on ages six to 13 using Control IQ saw was the sensor timing range increase to 67% from 53%. compared to those in the control group, and overnight children using Control IQ technology in the same study state and range an average of 80% of the time, those glycaemic outcomes match what we're seeing in the real world with a slightly older group, and so it's looking very consistent. So far across the board,
Stacey Simms 18:02
one of the things I wanted to ask you about these studies and in Tandem isn't the only one who does this. It looks to me like a lot of the automated studies that I'm reading from Insulet, Medtronic and some of the other companies, was that 68% in range number that you mentioned, like the people who started when from 68 to 78, which is fantastic. But we know that so many people with diabetes have like 30%, time in range, right? They need this technology so badly. And I'm wondering, can you just speak to that in terms of I don't know why the studies, and I was glad to hear the kids study was 53% to 67%. That seems a little bit more realistic to me. I mean, God forbid you study teens. What, you know why? Why do you? Why do most of these studies take people who frankly, have relatively decent control, right, we're talking about the whole sphere of diabetes, that just people who have great technology, I would think you'd want somebody who's got an A1C of 10 and you can say, look, we knocked them down to six.
Steph Habif 18:55
That is a great question and you are speaking my language. I'm so thrilled To hear you ask that question. That was actually one of the biggest themes to emerge from this year's ADA. And it certainly isn't a new theme, but it was a very prominent theme this year. The call for more diversity in research studies diversity, whether it has to do with baseline A1C or baseline time and range where somebody lives. There was a really exciting study presented at the ADA by researchers in New York who looked at inner city urban teenagers onboarding to the T slim x two with Basal IQ. And that was very cool to see. And so you're absolutely right. It is on us as researchers, as scientists, as clinicians to figure out how to be more inclusive in this type of research. And that's certainly one of our goals here at Tandem.
Stacey Simms 19:49
It's interesting because I thought you were going to say, I don't know I thought it was going to be more on the medical side of it. So in other words, is it more of a question and I'm pardon my ignorance here because I wasn't really even sure what I was. Asking there. Is it just harder to find people to be in these studies? Or is it the study criteria that excludes people?
Steph Habif 20:07
So at Tandem, we try to have the most inclusive criteria that we possibly can for this year's ADA, again, because we had such a short amount of time, and we really only could take quote, unquote, the first look under the hood, we had to work with the data that was available. When you consider early adopters of any technology really, but certainly early adopters of Control IQ technology, like you said, a lot of those folks were already doing pretty well, especially because most of them were on T slim x two with basal IQ leading up to their Control IQ technology update. It's a loaded question, you know, why isn't there more diversity in this type of research? And there's no one simple answer to that question. I think it's a shared responsibility across many communities to figure out how to make it easier for them. Different types of people to be included in this research. So I think the medical community, the research community, the scientific community and the diabetes community sort of at large, we just need to be better about being more inclusive.
Stacey Simms 21:13
Well, and I think it's very easy. Once you set the parameter that you looked at people who are early adopters, we know who those early adopters were there us, there are people who listen to podcasts, there are people who are super educated, they went for the portal before the email came to them. So it's a it's a very self selected group of highly educated people. So I'm not being critical. I get it. It's just Gosh, like I said, I'd love to see what happens when you start people who have a very high A1C and don't have a lot of time and don't have a lot of perhaps access to get a technology like this and see what it can do. Because, you know, I'm such a cheerleader. Listen, my bias is showing, but my son has always been in very good health with diabetes. We've been very lucky. You probably know we don't share numbers, but we're on track to have probably his lowest A1C ever and he has never done less work. It's amazing. So I just hope everybody gets a technology like this.
Steph Habif 22:05
Yeah, you know, the psychologist and behavioral scientist in me is just thrilled to hear you say that. I mean, for somebody like me who has studied social science her entire career and has also worked in health technology and medical technology, my entire career, I like to say that my purpose professionally is to advocate for the humans using the machines. And so I want the science to be able to tell the most insightful stories, whether powerful stories like one you're experiencing with Benny, where he's having to do less and less work but experience better and better outcomes, or whether it has to do with, you know, somehow shining a light on underserved populations who could be the greatest beneficiaries of this type of technology, and how can we make that happen? So all of that, to me is very exciting.
Stacey Simms 22:56
It's gonna be fascinating for somebody with your background to work in this field, where the mental side of diabetes is just as important. The Human Factors on pumps. It's, we could talk all day.
Steph Habif 23:05
Absolutely, yeah. So the easiest way to think about it for in terms of what I do and my team's do here at Tandem is, as you know, the FDA requires very rigorous Human Factors testing in order to submit and receive clearance on a medical device. And so my teams do all of the usability and Human Factors testing prior to our FDA submissions. And then other parts of my teams are the psychologists and the social scientists responsible for doing all the work to understand how the machines are functioning and the everyday lives of everyday users. I feel very blessed to be able to do that for work.
Stacey Simms 23:39
So moving to, you know, heaven forbid, we left to let you rest on your laurels at all moving ahead to what may be next. We know that COVID-19 has delayed a lot of things, you know, in all medical fields, but can we ask about the T sport and the Tandem mobile app? Can you talk about where those are right now?
Steph Habif 23:57
Of course you can ask. So a lot of you know We have a new insulin pump system that we're working to bring to market next year, we typically refer to it as the T sport. That's our internal project name for it. That's what we've kind of affectionately been calling it while it's been in development. It's about half the size of the T slim x two. It's being designed to be controlled either entirely by a mobile app or by an independent controller. And you're right due to the current COVID-19 environment. We have had some delays in some of our human factors testing. Because the data is required for our regulatory filings. The target submission timing for the tee sport will be pushed out until protective government restrictions are lifted. And because I am the person that oversees our human factors team, let me just say that trying to plan and carry out to actors testing during a pandemic is one of the most unique challenges of my career. And I know for anybody out there who's attempted to plan anything right now it's been particularly difficult.
Unknown Speaker 25:04
Before we go on, do you believe the Tsport will have a different name when it launches?
Unknown Speaker 25:08
Oh,
Stacey Simms 25:10
I won't hold you to it. It's just the first time I've heard somebody say that. Like with Omnipod, you know, they said, Oh is Omnipod horizon? And they said, No, it's Omnipod five. Yeah. Sometimes we sometimes we find ourselves getting ahead, right. We're ahead of marketing. We're ahead of labeling we we follow these projects. So early that we kind of assigned we as a community assign names to things that don't even have a name yet, right?
Steph Habif
Yeah, I am not a betting woman. And so I would be afraid to put money down on what t sport is officially going to be called when it gets commercialized.
Stacey Simms
Alright, fair enough. Fair enough. We'll just know that that's the working title. And then the mobile app. I know there's some people beta testing the phone app, which is more of a observant app, you look at things you can't do anything really yet. Is that the same timeline as the tee sport, whatever that timeline turns out to be?
Steph Habif 25:58
No, the mobile app is happening on In a different timeline. So we're developing a mobile app platform that is the foundation of our digital health strategy. The first generation of the app had a beta launch in the first quarter of 2020. And it will be rolled out more broadly in the upcoming weeks. So the first generation of the app will include remote data uploads so that patients can send their hcps important pump data without an office visit. We know that right now we've kind of been forced into this telehealth world. So that's going to be a really critical part of the user experience. And future iterations of the app will include remote bolus capability due to COVID. For sure. We've had some delays in human factors testing on the remote bolus features. And again, because data is required for our regulatory filings, we have to work with that the best we possibly can.
Stacey Simms 26:48
I'm so excited about that. I mean, obviously, the idea of bolusing from the phone seemed like the holy grail for a long time, but that is exactly what you're saying. right that the idea here is that you would take out your phone, bolus using pump, you'd be able to control it from your phone.
That's right. I give you the impression. I want to talk to you much more about that.
Steph Habif 27:09
You know, it's, I will say, being a scientist who's in charge of doing all of the research makes me an interesting candidate for a podcast interview.
Stacey Simms 27:20
All right. Well, I have so here's a question for you. And again, no answers a fair answer. I'm curious. When you you start doing things like that. The remote monitoring capability of the Dexcom , obviously, has been very, very popular. I'm curious if I wouldn't expect to bolus my son from my phone. Right? You wouldn't expect a caregiver to be able to do something like that. But what a caregiver be able to see more about the pump? Will there be more information available to people who want to, let's say follow, I don't know what kind of language we'll be using, like the pump battery, the insulin onboard, all of that kind of stuff. Will that be
Steph Habif 27:54
available? Yeah. So that's a great question. So follow capabilities through a mobile app. is certainly a part of our product roadmap, there are plans underway for that. I can't speak to when that would come to the market specifically, but it is being worked on.
Stacey Simms 28:11
Okay. And one more thing if you can't answer this is fine too. Would it be possible I'm just thinking out loud when my son was was younger and we did do everything for him? If like I could use you could designate like, this is the bolus phone, and it wouldn't necessarily be the phone that's with the kid.
Steph Habif 28:25
Great question. You know, cybersecurity is such a critical consideration in this land of remote anything. I can't tell you one way or the other, whether or not you as the parent would be able to use your smartphone to bolus you know from your son's pump. We'll have to wait and see what the FDA decides in the land of you know, security and safety and cybersecurity. For sure. Right now we're focusing on doing the necessary Human Factors testing for enabling the pump wearer to be able to use his or her smartphone
Stacey Simms 29:00
I'm trying to keep track of the timeline here. So forgive me for clinical trials underway for the T sport yet,
Steph Habif 29:06
right. So for the T sport project, we are not yet doing active clinical trials. But as many of you know, being a medical device company, we have a robust r&d department, and our engineers are experimenting on a regular basis.
Stacey Simms 29:22
Ooh, sounds intriguing. You should do all of your studies in Charlotte, North Carolina, you should include 15 year old boys. Yeah, let's move on. Do you know this isn't really your department, a bunch of my listeners had questions about insurance. And a lot of insurers were making noise a few years ago about only going with one pump company. And of course, the big one was United Health and Medtronic does tend to make any progress in that, you know, that deal. Right? So like
Steph Habif 29:53
what you said is true. It's not my department. So we don't provide individual payer updates, but we We believe having continued positive data on our technology, like what we presented at the ADA helps with all of our payer discussions.
Stacey Simms 30:08
So I would say to paraphrase that Tandem is not going to give up on working with as many insurance companies as possible.
Steph Habif 30:14
That is correct. We believe in doing whatever we can to create access for as many people in the world as possible.
Stacey Simms 30:21
another bit of news that came out right around ADA was FDA approval of Libre 2 and you all have had an agreement already with Abbott. I don't I don't know the parameters of the agreement. I don't think there's a lot of public the timeline or how it will work. Can you speak to anything about that about how sometime in the future I suppose the Libre will work with a Tandem pump?
Steph Habif 30:42
Yes, so Abbott and Tandem share a common goal to provide people with new ways to manage their diabetes that can integrate easily into their daily lives. The interoperability landscape is is very promising in Tandem is working with Abbott on an agreement to integrate a future generation of their glucose sensing technology with our insulin pumps. We haven't announced a timeline for the completion of the agreement, but we're working on it.
Stacey Simms 31:08
so dumb question because I always get confused with interoperability. Would this be a situation where I flip a switch on my pump and one week, I could use a Dexcom sensor and the next week, I could use a Libra sensor.
Steph Habif 31:17
I think for some people, that is what the vision is, like, I think we're all playing an active role right now in forming what this interoperable landscape could be. But conceptually, the idea is you could mix and match your technologies and they would be able to speak to one another. Now, that requires business agreements between the companies as well. So don't forget that part because that's an important part.
Stacey Simms 31:42
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, let's keep dreaming. Let's forget. So what are you studying? Now? Obviously, this isn't the end of the studies on Control IQ or Tandem products. Can you give us a glimpse into what what you're looking at in the next couple of months?
Steph Habif 31:55
Yeah, sure. Well, as you know, we currently offer the TCM x two with basal IQ technology and Control IQ technology. We had some pretty exciting research debut at the ADA on basal IQ in that we followed folks who on boarded to basal IQ during their first six months on basal IQ. And that was what we call a prospective study, meaning we were able to follow people in real time over the course of several months to see how it was going for them. The research we presented at ADA related to that specifically focused on self reported severe hypoglycemia episodes, and we were thrilled to tell the world that basal IQ is doing a phenomenal job of decreasing adverse events related to severe hypoglycemia. So basically, like he's seemingly doing a very good job at keeping users safe. And you know, safety is always at the top of our priority list.
So as we continue to see more people take on Control IQ technology if they choose to do that. We will Do these long term studies where we follow people if they opt in and want us to, we'll follow them while they onboard to and get to know and continue to use Control IQ technology so that we can learn from them. Again, not just the glycemic outcomes, things like time and range and hypoglycemia, but sleep quality, or other things like is it a hassle to use? Is it making your life better? One of the things that I'll never forget is a couple months after phase like q hit the market, I had the chance to briefly talk with a father who had a 16 year old daughter, and she had been on basal IQ for about six weeks. And he looked at me and he said, this is the most under promised, over delivered diabetes technology Our family has ever experienced. And I said wow, tell me more about that. And he said, We're finally sleeping. You know, we can sleep through the night. And you know, sleep is a precursor to everything for everybody. So we're going to be doing a lot more research on the sleep front to see how we can be better continue to improve sleep quality for people with diabetes. That's a very big topic of interest for us.
Stacey Simms 34:19
I'm curious to if you're looking at how people on board and adjust to Control IQ, because most people and again, we're biased because we think we're very well educated, right? When we were in Facebook groups, we talked to each other. Most people kind of went through the training, talk to their endo and then did all the troubleshooting themselves over the first two to three weeks. We're experiencing lows we didn't experience before so we decreased bezel or we increased ISF or whatever, whenever people had to adjust. Are you following like common practices to find out how to better teach? Okay, I'm sorry, we are
Steph Habif 34:51
we are and in fact, next week we're putting on a couple of webinars specifically for healthcare providers first because it's We've been hearing from them even before we launched into market when we started training healthcare providers on the control acute technology system. We have some best practices now to share now that it's been out there for a couple of months. And we've been able to connect some dots. We'll be putting on several webinars next week for health care providers, where we'll be talking about these best practices and tips and tricks. And we know that not just health care providers, but users and their family members want to be able to ask these questions, too. So I think Molly told me that maybe she'll be getting together with you again, Stacy for a future podcast.
Stacey Simms 35:36
Yes. So I'm going to be asking her all of these questions. As the webinar we can kind of see what the what the research shows people with right we're gonna be doing another episode in the near future about best practices. That's great.
Steph Habif 35:46
Yes. And so Molly's just such a great person to talk with about that. But for sure, I'll send you the information on the webinars next week. If you want to chime in and watch they'll be recorded as well. And we are starting to roll out all of that message. Now,
Stacey Simms 36:00
oh my gosh, that's wonderful. Because I gotta tell you, we laughed. We got ours so early, like I said, who waited for the email? Right? We just logged into the portal that my son's endocrinologist said, Hey, let me know what you've learned. Let me know how you adjust.
Steph Habif 36:15
Yeah, that's true. That's true for my family members as well. So one of my niece's has type one, and she's now I think, gosh, almost 12 that blows my mind 11 or 12. I can't believe it. And her dad reminds me on a regular basis that she teaches him, you know, about how to use the pump, and how to use the technology. And I've heard that from other families as well, like, well, we went to our endo appointment, and I'll say, How was it? Well, we taught her a lot, you know, we were able to teach her a lot.
Stacey Simms 36:47
It's so funny. Well, it's also new. It's it's amazing to realize that we're all kind of doing this together.
Steph Habif 36:52
The energy and enthusiasm for good that is in the diabetes community is so special and so unique.
And so I feel very lucky to be a part of it and to play some small role in trying to make it better for everybody.
Stacey Simms 37:07
I can't thank you enough for jumping on. As I said, I'm kind of a fan. So I don't think this was an unbiased interview. But your information is fantastic. And I thank you so much for jumping on and sharing some of it with us. Thank you so much stuff.
Steph Habif 37:19
Absolutely. And I look forward to continuing to listen to hear how other people you know, share their experiences and tell Benny to keep us informed.
Unknown Speaker 37:30
No doubt
Unknown Speaker 37:36
you're listening to diabetes connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 37:42
More information at Diabetes connections.com. The episode homepage always has the transcript and other links that you may need. And I will link up our last episode with Tandem there as well which was all about the launch of Control IQ. And as Steph mentioned, we're going to be talking to Molly Malloy and Others from Tandem. I'm in discussions with them this they've already agreed. It's just a question of scheduling, about getting someone to talk about best practices and other questions. You had so many questions for Tandem, that are more mechanical about how Control IQ works, that we want to do a second interview and really dig into the nitty gritty right, how do I know whether I need to adjust Bazell? How do I know whether it's the carb ratio issue and a bunch of questions of what you'd like to see in the next iteration of Control IQ. So that is coming. Thank you for your patience.
But it's always interesting, right to get a high level view of what's going on in these companies, and to try to look at the timeline as best we can. So that was really interesting that the reminders Steph gave me about how we do kind of get ahead of the curve around here, you know, not just on this podcast, but those of us who are engaged enough to be in Facebook groups and be on conference calls and listen to the investor calls these companies make and feel like we are familiar with the language and the labeling before it's even submitted to the FDA. So I'm in interested to see if the name of the T sport does change. Frankly, I really like it. But hey, that's I'm not in their marketing department. So we'll see.
Okay, tell me something good coming up in just a moment. But first, do you know about Dexcom clarity, it is their diabetes management software. And for a long time, I really thought it was just something our endo used, right? It was something we went there and he looked at it, but you can use it on the desktop or as an app on your phone. And it is an easy way to keep track of the big picture. I check it about once a week. Well, to be honest with you, I check it more now ever since we flipped over to Control IQ. I really like to look at it because and I noticed a psychological, right because it gets better and better. But it really does help me and Benny dial back and sees longer term trends. And it does help me not overreact to what happened for just one day, or even just one hour. The overlay reports help context to Benny's glucose levels and patterns. And then you can share the reports with your care team which makes appointments a lot more productive and it was essential for a remote appointment that we have Back in March, it was amazing. managing diabetes is not easy, but I feel like we have one of the very best CGM systems working for us Find out more at Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo.
Tell me something good this week all about diabetes scholars, we talked about this, I try to let you know when it opens up. This is something that comes from Beyond Type 1 and they give more than 50 scholarships to students living with Type One Diabetes. So it's a combined $250,000. And these are for students who are in the high school class of 2020. entering their first year of college. This was a record number of scholarships for the organization. So a little bit about the kids 54 outstanding students representing 26 different states. They are advocates, student athletes, scientists, writers, actors, mathematicians, and leaders. Each of them of course lives with Type One, two beedis there is a list of the diabetes scholars class of 2020 that I will link up so you can peruse and see all these fantastic students who aren't going to change the world as they head off to college at a very uncertain time. Oh my goodness. And these are significant scholarships, they range from $1,000 for individuals to $5,000. If you have a student who is in high school, and you want to check this out, I will also link up how to enter they do not open again until January.
And I should mention that diabetes scholars was an independent organization for a long time. But when it kind of seemed like it for I don't know the reasons behind it, I hope I'm not privy to the inside information. But a couple of years ago, it seemed like they were going to go under and beyond type one scooped him up and put them under their umbrella. And now they are part of the big beyond type one family. And that's one of the really interesting things not to get off the subject here about beyond type one. You know, when they first started, a bunch of us who've been around for a while, kind of thought, Well, what is this fancy new social media feed going to do? Right? What is there Legacy going to be what kind of changes are they're going to make? And while I think that they have still differentiated themselves by appealing, perhaps more to young adults, and focusing a lot, I mean, their social media is amazing. They've also now really made a name for themselves by being an umbrella organization for smaller diabetes groups that it's really hard to survive with a low budget when you try to go yourself safe sitting as part of them. I think slipstream now is part of them. Lots and lots of be on type run lots of little organizations that make a big difference, but needed their help so I guess that's a Tell me something good as well for beyond type one.
If you haven't Tell me something good story. I'm in the process of gathering more I've been putting up the posts in the Facebook group and elsewhere. If you have some good news, I want to share it just let me know you can also email me Stacey at Diabetes connections.com and tell me something good.
I mentioned at the top of the show that we are going to be marking 13 years with an insult pump in July, really just late next week, July 4. Yeah, we were geniuses and decided to start it over Independence Day weekend, when we were not even at home. That's a story for another time that I have told that I tell in the book too. But we are also next week headed to the endocrinologist for the first time since January, we did not get an A1C when I had a telehealth appointment for Benny in March. So I'm really interested to see I mean, I know the drill from Dexcom . And while I don't share numbers, I think we are going to have one of if not the lowest A1C’s Benny's ever had thank you to Control IQ. But there's always more to talk about when we see the end, other than just the numbers. So I will keep you posted.
If there's anything that Benny wants me to share, or that we want to talk about, but I'm really looking forward to that appointment just because Gosh, we've never gone six months without seeing our endocrinologist and while I know a lot of people think it's a pain to go every three months i mean i think it's a pain to but I'd like checking in I love Dr. v. I always learned something we always ask about Questions, even though he except it was asks me questions now, which is really funny and I do enjoy. I think that when you have a kid who changes as much as my kid has over the years, just physically, you know, and everything else, it's really important, at least for me to have that kind of touchstone, so I am really looking forward to it. And I think Benny's grown an inch. He thinks he hasn't grown at all. Anyone. Let me measure him. I mean, how ridiculous so we'll get a bite, which is what I'm looking forward to as well.
Okay, we have so many great episodes on tap. I have all this technology stuff. I have some personal stories that I've been holding, always a mix around here about the technology, the news, the great stories from our community camp. Oh my gosh. So there's lots coming up. It's just a question of what comes next. If there's any breaking news, we'll do our very best, but please join Diabetes Connections, the group on Facebook, that is the best way to stay up to date as to what's coming and I often ask you all questions as well, which helps me figure out what episodes are really important to you. Thank you to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solution. And as always, thank you for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here next week until then be kind to yourself.
Unknown Speaker 45:12
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged
