mHealth Technologies in Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes Care

Diabetes care is currently undergoing a transformation as a result of the rapid adoption of mobile technology. In addition to a variety of traditional diagnostic and therapeutic devices, innovative mobile health or “mHealth” solutions are being designed to empower patients and providers to better manage and prevent the disease through increased access to educational information, patient health data, novel sensors, and powerful analytics. While the adoption of mHealth technologies has the potential to dramatically change pre-diabetes and diabetes care, insufficient data of safety and effectiveness exist to support their integration into standard clinical practice. Poor reimbursement and an unclear regulatory framework further challenge the adoption of mHealth technologies. Nonetheless, the opportunity that mHealth technologies present to increase patient access to affordable, quality healthcare demands that these challenges be quickly overcome.