The Telcare BGM: A Physician’s PerspectiveĪs a digital health enthusiast and endocrinology fellow, the Telcare BGM hits close to home. In the two years since its launch, Telcare is making headway and is gaining coverage with various insurance plans, and they will do a full inquiry for users who fill out this form. While they are priced similarly to other high-end glucose test strips (50 count costs $55), they might not be covered by your insurance plans. The bad news is that the Telcare itself costs $150 and uses proprietary test strips which must be purchased directly through Telcare. (The cellular service is subsidized by the price of the test strips). Even more impressive: there is no separate fee for the cellular service to upload sugars over the Verizon network. The MyTelcare portal is free, allowing others to view your blood sugar data is free, and the smartphone apps are free. The good news is that every service provided with the Telcare BGM is absolutely free. When it comes to pricing, it’s an issue of good news and bad news. Both the web portal and smartphone apps also allow for the manual addition of extra blood glucose readings. The iPhone app Diabetes Pal provides very straightforward graphs, pie charts, and hourly breakdowns of blood glucose, which go light years beyond the standard glucometer option of scrolling back through a glucose log one at a time. The web portal MyTelcare and the Telcare companion app Diabetes Pal are not particularly cutting edge, but are fully functional and easy to use. ![]() The full access permitted for health care providers allows them to adjust feedback messages, change target ranges, and target number of readings per day. At this point, users can access their data through any web browser, or use the partner app Diabetes Pal for Android or iPhone.Ī key advantage of the Telcare is that the MyTelcare portal allows users to grant read-only access to others (family members, caregivers), and to grant full access to health care providers. ![]() With its own cellular 3G antenna, the Telcare automatically uploads blood glucose recordings to its central cloud server using the Verizon network. The Software: Device Agnostic with iPhone, Android, Web Connectivity Keep in mind that traditional glucometers last months to years, so the concept of a glucose meter running out of batteries takes some adjustment. During my testing period where I was testing my sugar 2-3 times a day, I had to recharge the glucose meter every 10 days or so. One important note is that the Telcare’s cellular synchronization and color display do lead to decreased battery life. The screen is fairly low-resolution (once again reminiscent of the Blackberry era), but is completely readable, especially when compared to traditional glucometers. To navigate the BGM, there are 3 buttons on the left side (up, down, and select), with a hard switch on the right side. In hand, it feels no heavier than the Accu-check Aviva (pictured).Īesthetically, it reminds me of the Blackberry Bold with its boxy curves, and lack of a touchscreen. ![]() And despite its heft, the Telcare is surprisingly light. The large, color screen improves readability, which can come in handy for older folks or those suffering from diabetic retinopathy. The Telcare BGM is bulky, more so than most other glucose meters, but this isn’t all that bad. The Hardware: More Blackberry than iPhone While the Telcare device itself might be more on par stylistically with the Blackberry generation, the Telcare BGM serves as an essential transition step for glucose meters by adding cloud storage and analytics while retaining a familiarity for users of all ages and tech-savviness. The Telcare Blood Glucose Meter (BGM) aims to change that, with a color screen and cellular connectivity that automatically uploads your blood sugars to the cloud. Most glucose meters are stuck in the past with old-fashioned displays, data that is difficult to export, and limited functionality. However, in the age of Fitbit’s and iPhones, glucose monitors are really showing their age. (Check out an older review of iBG Star, and we have one of the Verio Sync coming this week)īlood glucose monitors, popularized in the 1990’s, are the precursors to the current generation of sensors in the digital health and quantified self movements. These mobile monitors are hoping to transform the staid form factors and functionality of current glucometers. had the privilege of reviewing several newer glucometers, and we are publishing our reviews in the upcoming weeks.
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