Practical guidance for using the FreeStyle Libre flash continuous glucose monitoring in primary care

ABSTRACT

Use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) improves clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes, and significant benefits been demonstrated in patients with type 2 diabetes, including improved glycemic control, better treatment adherence, and an increased understanding of their treatment regimens. Currently, there are two types of CGM systems: real-time CGM (rtCGM) and flash CGM (FCGM). Retrospective analysis of CGM data allows patients and their clinicians to identify glycemic patterns that support and facilitate informed therapy decisions. With the increasing prevalence of diabetes, primary care physicians will be compelled to take on more responsibility for managing patients with diabetes. This article focuses on practical approaches and decision-making strategies for utilizing FCGM in primary care settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Continuous glucose monitoring
• CGM
• flash monitoring
• FCGM
• type 1 diabetes
• type 2 diabetes
• time in range
• time below range

Acknowledgements

Christopher G Parkin of CG Parkin Communications was involved with the development of content outline.

Declaration of interest

Abbot Diabetes Care provided funding for manuscript development. The authors received no compensation for their involvement.

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Jeff Unger receives consulting fees from Novo Nordisk, Abbott Diabetes Care, Eli Lilly, Janssen and Astra Zeneca.

Pamela Kushner receives consulting and speaker fees from Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novo Nordisk, Abbott Diabetes Care

John E. Anderson receives consulting, advisory board and speaker fees from Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novo Nordisk, Abbott Diabetes Care and Merck.

Reviewers disclosure

A reviewer on this manuscript has disclosed that they have been an advisory board member, lecturer and received research grants from Abbott Diabetes Care, Dexcom, Medtronic, and Roche Diabetes Care. The other peer reviewers on this manuscript have no other relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

Abbott Diabetes Care provided funding for editorial assistance from Christopher Parkin, CGParkin Communications, Inc. (Las Vegas, NV).