Northeastern researcher uses virtual reality to help pharmacists improve diabetes care
Matthew Ezzo created a 10-minute VR simulation to help pharmacists better understand and explain continuous glucose monitors.
For many of the almost 40 million people in the U.S. who live with diabetes, monitoring blood sugar levels multiple times a day can make the difference between good health and serious heart, kidney, nerve and eye problems.
A researcher at Northeastern University has developed a way to make it easier for more people to know their glucose levels simply by visiting their local pharmacist.
For many years, people who use insulin to control diabetes have had access to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) — small sensors worn on the upper arm that sends glucose readings to a smartphone. This approach replaces finger-poke blood tests and provides a steady stream of blood sugar readings that normally fluctuate through the day, says Matthew Ezzo, who recently earned his Ed.D. from Northeastern.
But only about 10% of people with diabetes use CGMs in the U.S., Ezzo says, and many more could benefit from them if the pharmacists who dispense them understood how they work. The American Diabetes Association now recommended that all people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes be offered a CGM.
Pharmacists, Ezzo says, have a potent role to play in delivering diabetes care, because it’s easier to consult with a pharmacist than to get an appointment with a doctor.
“Pharmacists are America’s most accessible health care destination,” he says. “They really sit in a great place to help more people with diabetes.”
Continuous glucose monitors create alerts when blood sugar levels rise or drop, making it possible for the user to make an adjustment to their insulin, diet or activity level right away to stay in target range. The treatment is covered by Medicare.
For his Ed.D. dissertation, Ezzo interviewed pharmacists about their comfort level explaining how CGMs work. What he found was that pharmacists lacked the confidence to counsel patients about the device. They reported not even knowing what was inside the box that they were dispensing.
“For pharmacists to understand these devices better, I had to develop a solution that was very innovative and unique,” Ezzo says.
His answer: A 10-minute virtual reality (VR) simulation of the device’s components, sensor application, the iPhone app and glucose data reports. Ezzo worked with a VR software developer to create the training experience, and pharmacists in Massachusetts who tested it reported higher levels of confidence about explaining the device.
Ezzo’s findings were published last month in the industry journal Pharmacy Times and in the World Journal of Biology, Pharmacy and Health Sciences. .
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In the past, pharmacists were visited by pharmaceutical company representatives who gave in-person training about medications and products. But today, pharmacists are often so busy filling prescriptions that they might not have time to meet with a representative or read training materials, Ezzo says.
One pharmacist told Ezzo that his employer, a national pharmacy chain, doesn’t allow pharmaceutical representatives to speak with pharmacists.
Virtual reality, Ezzo says, has emerged as an effective substitute for in-person instruction, boosting users’ confidence about the subject by 275%. The training Ezzo developed allows pharmacists to virtually see and handle everything that comes in a CGM package.
In fact, Ezzo, who is a senior national account manager for Abbott Diabetes Care — one of the nation’s major CGM manufacturers — recommends that the company make VR the new standard for pharmacy education.
The impact of this familiarity and heightened confidence could be potent, Ezzo says. Pharmacists trained on CGM with VR will truly have the power to improve diabetes care.
One pharmacist told Ezzo that after using the VR training he is more likely to proactively seek out a patient who is picking up a CGM reader or sensors for the first time to answer any questions or show them the products “versus letting them pick it up and take it home without any explanation.”
