Many employers follow a more traditional route when trying to manage diabetes, focusing on improving care and outcomes for employees who are already diagnosed. Today, it’s more important than ever for employer program strategies to focus on delaying or preventing the onset of the disease in covered populations. This is due, in part, to the increasing number of people with prediabetes. This happens when blood glucose is above the normal but not high enough to meet the criteria for diabetes. People with prediabetes often go undiagnosed, and later develop type 2 diabetes.

As diabetes management evolves, so do the options outside of the traditional management model. For example, technology is playing a more prominent role in identification, monitoring and control of diabetes. As a result, it’s worthwhile to consider incorporating the use of digital tools into your larger strategy. This may include text based appointment reminders, app-based self-management trackers, glucometers connected to apps and web-based tele-support for medical information and advice.

Addressing diabetes in your workplace doesn’t need to be costly, but it does need to be strategic. Review the information and resources in this section to learn more about how you can create a strategy that best suits the needs of your workforce. For help navigating the toolkit, click here to download a how-to checklist.