Advance Health Equity

Partner with us to advance health equity in diabetes! T1D Exchange has reduced barriers to equitable care by delivering real-world results using quality improvement principles in our collaborative of diabetes clinics across the U.S.

Through our Quality Improvement Collaborative (T1DX-QI) — with 54 participating clinics reaching more than 100,000 people with diabetes — we created the Health Equity Advancement Lab (HEAL) program. HEAL works to understand and change the care provided to people of color with diabetes. By partnering with us in health equity research, we can successfully identify and change prejudice, bias, and inequities that exist in today’s healthcare system.

In its first two years, HEAL identified that people of certain racial and ethnic groups are:

• Less likely to be prescribed a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) or insulin pump
• Less likely to receive education regarding newer diabetes technology
• Less likely to be prescribed newer types of insulin and glucagon medications
• More likely to develop complications including neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy
• More likely to be frequently hospitalized for hypoglycemia and diabetes ketoacidosis
• More likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19

Through our HEAL program, T1D Exchange is advancing health equity in a variety of areas, including:

• Increasing diabetes technology usage in people of color
• Conducting implicit bias training with healthcare providers
• Increasing screening for social determinants of health
• Increasing prescriptions for critical medications for people of color
• Improving access to CGMs for high-risk patients
• …and more!

Here’s a glance at one of our recent custom research projects in health equity:

Reducing Inequities in Diabetes Technology Device Use Among Patients with T1D

• Partner: Medtronic
• Research Goal: Reducing disparities in insulin pump and CGM use for Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients with T1D within 12 months.
• # of Participants: 7,700+ across 5 pediatric and 2 adult endocrinology clinics
• Results: All participating clinics increased device use in patients of color with T1D
  – Median CGM use increased by 15% in Hispanic patients with T1D
  – Median CGM use increased by 12% in non-Hispanic Black patients with T1D

Our Impact: Our unique expertise in driving health equity fueled the success of this study. We used these learnings to create a guide, readily available on our website, that helps providers everywhere provide more equitable care to people with diabetes.

Sponsorship Opportunities Available:

• 2024 Achieving Diabetes Equity in Practice Today (ADEPT) Conference
• Quality improvement projects in 55 endocrinology centers for T1D and T2D

Contact us for opportunities