Within the last several months, I have had many great conversations with the Conversation Map and digital engagement platform (DEP) users. I have been gathering a lot of great best practices and stories from you. The goal is for us to continue this conversation on an ongoing basis. This way, your experience using Map tools and DEP can become part of standards of care. At the same time, I realize that many of you have questions about the US diabetes Map program and all available resources. I put together a list of “Top Ten - Did You Know” items below.

Many of my patients deal with chronic pain and opioid use. My role is to help them with their blood glucose control while dealing with managing severe pain and discomfort and other concerns they have. I have always tried to be empathetic to other’s pain and the way they deal with it. However, when I broke my foot and needed to deal with unmanageable physical and emotional pain, I realized how complex pain management and opiate use has become.

Many diabetes educators would like to learn how to attain a degree in diabetes education and management. Therefore, in this blog post, I interview Jane K. Dickinson, RN, PhD, CDE, Program Director/Lecturer for the Master of Science in Diabetes Education and Management at Teachers College Columbia University.

This blog is very special to me as I have the pleasure of interviewing my professional mentor, someone who makes my work easy and exciting: Paul Lasiuk, CEO of Healthy Interactions. The reason this is a good time to talk with Paul, is that Healthy Interactions as you know it, has transformed beyond just a Conversation Map enterprise. We are now a leading provider of integrated population health management solutions that improve patient outcomes and lower health care costs. I am happy to see this transition as it reflects the needs of healthcare providers like myself, adding digital and technology to further support the needs of people with diabetes and other conditions. Steve Jobs once said “It’s not faith in technology, it’s faith in people.”I can relate to that, as I am thinking what Healthy Interactions is doing today will impact the life of those with diabetes and healthcare providers.

Technology is now part of a new science within diabetes care. As diabetes educators, we are partnering with people with diabetes (PWD) to support their efforts in using the digital interventions. I am very excited about the first systematic review of systemic reviews evaluating the existing evidence and best practice while using technology in diabetes care and education. Deborah Greenwood, PhD, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE is one of the authors of "A Systematic Review of Reviews Evaluating Technology-Enabled Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support" that was published recently. This month, I am happy to share my conversation with Deborah about diabetes and technology.

This June has been very special for Healthy Interactions, as it marks ten years of our collaboration with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Merck sponsorship of the Journey For Control program. At the same time, this is a special occasion for diabetes educators like me, who have been using Conversation Map tools for a decade now.
With this blog, I would like to reflect on how the Map program has made me a better clinician and facilitator. Consequently, advanced my career as a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE).
Here are my top ten reasons I think the Map tools helped me as diabetes educator...

This month, I would like to introduce you to Manel Kappagoda, JD, MPH. Manel is a project director and senior staff attorney at ChangeLab Solutions, a national non-profit organization with the mission of creating healthier communities for all, through better laws and policies.Manel and her colleague Derek Carr, analyzed laws addressing insurance coverage for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Training (DSME/T*) in partnership with the Temple University Policy Surveillance Program.

We all know that diabetes self-management education and support (DSME/S) produces reduction in A1C in short term results. We also know that better approaches in diabetes education produce better outcomes. Also - we know that that better outcomes are associated with more frequent encounters with diabetes educators. All this makes sense as diabetes education is dose dependent and it only works if taken the way it is intended.

This blog, I am honored to have a conversation with Susie King who is a Diabetes Prevention Coordinator at Indiana State Department of Health. Susie has worked in the diabetes industry for most of her career. Her experience has spanned the continuum of diabetes care, including promoting diabetes products for pharmaceutical and medical device companies to promoting diabetes education for a major Indiana healthcare system.

This Valentine’s day, I would like to celebrate our corporate sponsors. The pharmaceutical industry who is Healthy Interactions partner in delivering education programs for healthcare providers (HCPs) and people with diabetes (PWD). For me personally, it all started 13 years ago, when I was part of the pharma sponsored diabetes education team in Chicago. I was educating physicians and their patients on starting insulin. As a diabetes educator, I...