OBJECTIVES: Dario Diabetes Solution (DDS) is a digital health solution combining a blood glucose (BG) meter and smartphone application, enabling BG tracking and various relevant metrics to facilitate personalized management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We report the impact of DDS engagement on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) in a US real-world retrospective study.

METHODS: Patient-level claims data for adult DDS users (>18 years; registered 01-Jan-2017 to 30-Apr-2021) receiving therapy for T2DM were retrieved from Symphony Health Integrated Dataverse. All patients had >2 outpatient (>30 days apart) or >1 inpatient visit within 12 months prior to index (date of first DDS registration). This analysis reports all-cause HCRU (inpatient + emergency room visits) and odds of incurring HCRU-related charges >$0 based on user engagement with any of 10 DDS activity metrics (‘components’ of activity metrics: measuring BG, measuring blood pressure, measuring weight, tagging [BG timing and meal type], food logging, inputting insulin dose, recording physical activity, sharing logbooks, reading articles, coach interaction). Overall engagement was defined as number of days any component was used within 12 months post-index. All-cause HCRU rates and charges per 100 days of engagement were adjusted for baseline values with a negative binomial generalized linear model and logistic model, respectively; incidence rate ratios (IRR) for HCRU and odds ratios (OR) for charges >$0 were derived.

RESULTS: We identified 2445 DDS users (mean+SD age, 58.2+10.6 years; 53.3% female). Overall engagement (use of any DDS component) was associated with a 10% reduction in all-cause HCRU (IRR: 0.90; p=0.0048). Overall DDS engagement was associated with 15% decreased odds of incurring all-cause HCRU-related charges >$0 (OR: 0.85; p=0.0004).

CONCLUSIONS: Overall engagement with DDS was associated with a reduction in all-cause HCRU and lower likelihood of incurring HCRU-related charges.