Patient- and Provider-Centered Design of an Outpatient Diabetes Technology Clinic

The number of US patients using diabetes technology is increasing, and sophisticated technologies continue to emerge. Patients using diabetes technology require access to providers prepared to offer care in this rapidly changing field. The authors sought to identify factors important to both patients using diabetes technology and providers caring for such patients. They redesigned the Diabetes Technology Clinic at an academic group practice in response to the needs of patients and providers. Ongoing analysis of best practices, patient experience, and provider feedback is essential to structuring diabetes technology clinics to meet the complex needs of patients requiring diabetes technology. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing a systems engineering approach to develop a diabetes technology clinic.