Power in Numbers
54
Staff Hours Saved Each Week
90
Percent Decrease in Time Spent in Low
110000
Additional Dollars Earned
Challenges Before SweetSpot: Data Access Issues and Remote Monitoring Gaps
Before integrating SweetSpot, Dr. Rauba and his team faced significant challenges in managing diabetes care both in person and remotely, particularly in accessing patient data and patient outreach following appointments.
Due to the variety of CGMs and insulin pumps used by patients, nurses had to navigate multiple diabetes management web applications, manually downloading and printing reports so that Dr. Rauba could review them during patient visits. This process was cumbersome, time-consuming, and often inefficient, as nearly two out of three times, a patient’s data would either not upload properly, or there would be a backlog in downloads, leading to delayed or rescheduled appointments.
Additionally, the small staff size and large patient population meant that Dr. Rauba’s team lacked the bandwidth to call and check-in on particularly at-risk patients or patients who had recent adjustments to their diabetes regimen. Instead, they relied on patients to reach out to the office, which rarely happened unless patients were experiencing severe lows. Consequently, 80% of patients did not follow up as instructed, and Dr. Rauba often wouldn’t hear from them until their next in-person appointment 3-4 months later.
Further, when Dr. Rauba's office did connect with a patient over the phone, they continued to struggle with the complexity of locating patient data reports. They also lacked the time and resources to navigate the process of submitting the correct billing codes for remote reviews, including phone consultations and data analysis, resulting in missed reimbursements for the full scope of care they were providing.
Improvements with SweetSpot: Streamlined Processes, Real-Time Data Access, and Enhanced Efficiency
SweetSpot has streamlined JCMG’s processes for CGM and insulin pump data review -reducing the need for manual downloads and ensuring patients are set up for data-sharing - freeing up time for more critical tasks. With SweetSpot’s comprehensive dashboard, Dr. Rauba and his staff can access all their patients’ device data in one place. This allowed Rauba to easily review patient data in real-time during visits and during follow-up calls.
“Before SweetSpot, asking nurses to download data manually was time-consuming and often led to delays in patient care. Now, I can download it quickly, and everything flows a lot better,” Dr. Rauba noted.
Plus, using SweetSpot’s automated notes summary feature, Dr. Rauba has significantly reduced the amount of time he would usually spend interpreting trends in patient data on the computer during visits, and can instead spend that crucial appointment time communicating more effectively with patients about their glycemic health.
By partnering with SweetSpot’s clinical team, Dr. Rauba has also significantly improved his practice’s efficiency in remotely monitoring patients between office visits and ensuring that data analysis and outreach are tracked as reimbursable events. SweetSpot’s dashboard and filtering capabilities allow Dr. Rauba’s team to quickly check on patients who have had recent adjustments, while the SweetSpot team proactively reaches out to patients for monthly data reviews, troubleshooting device connectivity issues with patients, identifying patients needing interventions, and following up with treatment recommendations for Dr. Rauba to approve.
In fact, if Dr. Rauba or his staff were to personally interpret patient data and contact each patient reviewed by SweetSpot, it would require up to 54 hours of their time each week.
Not only is the SweetSpot platform now automatically tracking billable care events at Dr. Rauba's office, ensuring reimbursement for the work they’re already doing, but the increased patient reviews performed by the SweetSpot clinical team have also boosted the number of billable events they can collect.
Specifically, JCMG will collect an additional $110k in revenue at the end of 2024 with minimal admin and clinical effort for about 100 patients enrolled in the program, (which is roughly $36k in extra revenue per provider in Dr. Rauba’s clinic.)
“It’s a missed opportunity to help patients and missed revenue,” Dr. Rauba said. “We get so busy in the clinic, we don’t have time to reach out on our own to every patient in between visits. Now we can do more for patients with the help of the SweetSpot team, and get reimbursed for it.”
SweetSpot has also significantly improved patient outcomes at JCMG. Proactive monitoring and real-time uploading have led to better glycemic control, with some patients experiencing substantial reductions in A1C levels.
“Several pump patients have seen their A1C drop from 8-9% to low 7s because of the monthly reviews and adjustments, and we’ve been able to alleviate hypoglycemia for many MDI patients, who would never typically call us in between visits,” Dr. Rauba said.
Many patients at JCMG have experienced significant improvements in their Time in Range (TIR) and reductions in dangerously low glucose levels. For instance, the SweetSpot clinical team identified that a female patient was spending nearly 30% of her day below 70 mg/dL. After a counseling session over the phone about her diabetes management, Dr. Rauba approved the SweetSpot team's recommendation to reduce her insulin dose. As a result, her time spent low dropped to just 3%, marking a remarkable 90% decrease in her low glucose episodes from just a few months earlier. This is just one of many success stories**.
**(SweetSpot is currently running a clinical study to measure the relationship between patient health outcomes and monitoring data on the SweetSpot platform, with promising early results).
Looking ahead, JCMG plans to continue expanding SweetSpot’s use across their patient population, particularly for those on insulin pumps. Dr. Rauba sees SweetSpot as an essential part of their long-term strategy for diabetes management, helping them proactively manage patient care and improve outcomes.
“SweetSpot helps with proactive outreach to our patients, allowing for adjustments and monitoring on a monthly basis, and it keeps our patients engaged in their own healthcare and self-management, leading to better control more quickly,” said Dr. Rauba. “It’s just going to be part of what we do.”
Email us at info@sweetspot.health to get your personalized demo of SweetSpot!