OBJECTIVES: The Dario Diabetes Solution (DDS) is a non-prescription digital health intervention with a smartphone application that combines remote self-monitoring of blood glucose, data visualization, and disease education to facilitate behavior change. DDS use has been associated with improvements in glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Better management of T2D through the use of a digital intervention may result in lower healthcare resource utilization and savings to healthcare systems. This study estimated the economic impact of the introduction of DDS to a US commercial health plan.

METHODS: An Excel-based budget impact model was developed to estimate the impact of DDS on healthcare costs and patient outcomes. The model used a 1-year time horizon, compared scenarios with and without DDS, and considered the costs of diabetes medications, supplies, DDS subscriptions, and healthcare encounters (outpatient, inpatient, and ER). A sub-analysis focused on a Medicare population and patients who used ER or inpatient services.

RESULTS: For a health plan with 1 million beneficiaries, assuming a 22.5% uptake of DDS in patients with T2D resulted in a 1-year budget impact of $1.09 and $4.94 per member per month (PMPM) in commercial and Medicare plans, respectively. In plans with DDS, more patients moved from poor to good diabetic control (HbA1c ≥8% to <8%) in commercial (1,224 patients) and Medicare plans (5,524 patients). In patients using healthcare resources (ER and inpatient), the projected 1-year budget impact was –$1.25 and –$5.66 PMPM in commercial and Medicare plans, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Introducing DDS to an entire T2D population resulted in a 1-year increase in overall spending but improved diabetic control; spending was reduced among patients using healthcare resources. Thus, implementing a targeted approach of DDS to those who utilize healthcare resources can produce significant cost savings for US health plans.