153-LB: Physician Well-being Related to Diabetes Technology and Clinic Workflow

Background: Endocrinology physicians and clinic staff are burdened by workload created during the download of diabetes devices (insulin pumps, glucometers, and sensors). Inefficiencies caused by data interoperability can impact physician well-being and clinic workflow. The aim of this study is to identify physician wellbeing related to Diabetes Technology (DT) and determine whether the use of a single software platform to upload and view diabetes data improves efficiency.

Methods: Physician satisfaction survey related to DT was sent to providers at a single academic endocrinology office. Tidepool®, a free software, was implemented to enable data upload from multiple devices onto a single platform. The time required to have this data available to the provider was recorded pre and post-implementation. The provider was then able to view this data in the patients’ electronic chart.

Results: All providers (n=14) completed the survey. Only 7% felt that pumps were always downloaded on time. Related to DT, 21% felt a sense of dread at work, 36% experienced a lack of enthusiasm, and 43% experienced emotional exhaustion. Almost 80% felt that clinic workflow due to DT contributed to spending less time with patients. Data from a total of 90 devices pre and 144 devices post-Tidepool® were included in the study. There was a significant improvement in the average time of sensor and glucometer data availability; 4.95 vs. 3.2 minutes (CI -2.48 to -1.01, p-value <0.0001). There was no significant change in average time for insulin pump data availability; 8.8 vs. 8.46 minutes (CI -2.6 to 2.1, p-value 0.7) post Tidepool®. Time and resources related to printing the data were saved as well. 100% of staff at the download station felt that Tidepool® was an easier software to use.

Conclusion: Our study shows a high prevalence of physician dissatisfaction and symptoms of burnout related to DT among the providers even at a university academic office with access to the best resources. The use of Tidepool® could potentially improve clinic workflow.