David Edelman hopes to turn what started out as a hobby into a sustainable business.
In 2005, Edelman and his future wife, who’d recently been diagnosed with diabetes, started an online community, Diabetes Daily. The idea was to provide a place for diabetics to discuss their challenges in living with the disease, swap recipes and share medication tips and use online diabetes management tools. Since then, the site has collected more than 50,000 members and had 2 million visitors last year.
“We just did it to help ourselves and help others live better lives with diabetes,” said Edelman, a resident of Northeast Ohio. “We never dreamed it’d resonate the way it has with so many people.”
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Now, the company is launching an educational platform it calls Diabetes Daily University, which will offer both free and paid online classes on aspects of managing the disease. Planned topics are plentiful, including “I’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes. What do I do?” to best practices in managing blood glucose levels to how to read nutrition labels on food.
With more than 25 million Americans, or more than 8 percent of the population, afflicted with diabetes, Diabetes Daily University certainly has a wide market of potential customers.
The reasons driving the new educational offering are numerous, Edelman said. Some doctors aren’t up-to-date on the latest methods of dealing with diabetes, and even those who are may not excel at helping patients deal with the emotional toll of the disease. Some diabetics, particularly those who’ve just been diagnosed, simply need help feeling better about living the rest of their lives with the disease, according to Edelman.
“That’s an area where our medical system traditionally hasn’t done a good job of serving people,” he said.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
For Diabetes Daily University, the company has partnered with top physicians and endocrinologists, who’ll lead some of the courses. The instruction will happen through a variety of means, including texts, videoconferencing, animation and quizzes, Edelman said.
He plans to roll out the first education courses this summer.
“Our ambitions for solving diabetes education problems require us to step up our game,” Edelman said. “We want to change how diabetes education is done, not just in this country, but around the world.”
