P501 - Glucose Monitoring in Individuals with Diabetes: Impact of Durable Medical Equipment and Pharmacy Fulfillment

In 2021, approximately 29.7 million individuals in the United States (US) were living with diabetes, leading to significant direct and indirect costs totaling $413 billion in 2022. [1] Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) offers individuals with diabetes near real-time feedback on how their glucose levels are affected by environmental, biological, lifestyle, and medication factors. Although finger sticks may be required for calibrations and unusual results, CGMs eliminate the need for frequent finger sticks. [2] Previous studies have shown that wearing a CGM is associated with reductions in A1C, medical costs, and healthcare utilization. [3-7] The predictors of CGM usage are well studied and include age, percentage of time in range, the perceived necessity of CGM, body mass index (BMI), and gender. [8] Our Retrospective Cohort Study represents 75.7 billion claims of all payer types across 165 million unique patients across the US from the Mariner Commercial Claims Database. This poster describes the evaluation of the impact of dispensing sources of use rates and costs among individuals with diabetes. Because a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier or a pharmacy can fill a prescription for a CGM device, another potential factor influencing usage rates may be the dispensing source of CGM. Consistent usage was measured at 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months after index date.