When we started collecting best-in-class examples of social media tools created by pharmaceutical and healthcare brands, we were quickly overwhelmed with diabetes case studies. Consistently an innovative subcategory, diabetes-related solutions took up the biggest share of our story-telling space (see slides 27 – 48 for all our go-to examples):
Increasingly, when you dial up the app store on your iPhone, you’ll find more than Yelp and Glow Hockey. You’ll find: disease management.
Today’s diabetes tracking and management tools are mobile, social and on demand. Two of our favorites target two very different patients:
The first was a brilliant idea from a parent (Paul Wessel) of a child with type 1 diabetes. Paul’s son was constantly losing his blood glucose meter, but he could always find his Game Boy. That insight lead Paul to on a quest to create a practical device that would help his son manage his diabetes. Bayer hired Paul to develop DIDGET™:
A first-of-its-kind blood glucose meter that connects directly to Nintendo DS™ gaming systems to help kids manage their diabetes by rewarding them for consistent testing habits. It gives them access to a kids-only community and gives them points and game codes for consistently testing.
Didget is currently available in the UK. It’s FDA-approved in the US, but hasn’t hit the market yet.
Our second mobile favorite was spotted by Bryan Duffie. It was built by a health system based on the simple premise: managing diabetes is a team sport.
The (free) Bant app lets you input your readings with a single swipe. Stores it instantly to your Google Health account. And, lets you share your updates with the diabetes community and/or your care team through Twitter.
