A Clinical Training Program for Hybrid Closed Loop Therapy in a Pediatric Diabetes Clinic

Hybrid closed loop (HCL) therapy is now available in clinical practice for treatment of type 1 diabetes; however, there is limited research on how to educate patients on this new therapy. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to optimize a HCL education program for pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Our multidisciplinary team developed a novel HCL clinical training program for current insulin pump users, using a quality improvement process called the Plan-Do-Study-Act model. Seventy-two patients participated in the HCL training program, which included (1) an in-person group class to reinforce conventional insulin pump and CGM use on the new system, (2) a live video conference class to teach HCL use, and (3) three follow-up phone calls in the first 4 weeks after HCL training to assess system use, make insulin adjustments, and provide targeted reeducation. Diabetes educators collected data during follow-up calls, and patients completed a training satisfaction survey.

The quality improvement process resulted in a training program that emphasized education on HCL exits, CGM use, and optimizing insulin to carbohydrate ratio settings. Patients successfully sustained time in HCL in the initial weeks of use and rated the trainings and follow-up calls highly.

Ongoing educational support is vital in the early weeks of HCL use. This quality improvement project is the first to examine strategies for implementation of HCL therapy into a large pediatric diabetes center, and may inform best practices for implementation of new diabetes technologies into other diabetes clinics.