(Washington, DC – November 16, 2012) – Galileo Analytics Co-Founder Anna McCollister-Slipp today told a gathering of diabetes industry leaders, researchers, regulators and patients that the diabetes community is behind the curve in medical device interoperability and data integration. McCollister-Slipp made her remarks as part of the second annual DiabetesMine Innovation Summit at Stanford University, an event aimed at promoting innovation and improved design of diabetes medical devices and patient care.

Following her presentation, McCollister-Slipp moderated a discussion about the barriers to device interoperability and data integration, which featured leaders from medical device companies, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and diabetes patient advocates.

The topic of medical device data integration and device interoperability is of significant importance to those living with diabetes, a disease which requires patients and physicians to understand and track changes in patterns in glucose levels over time. Often, patients use multiple devices to track glucose levels, treat their disease and monitor other critical measures, such as activity, blood pressure and weight. Each device generates a distinct data set, but a lack of industry standards for data structure and an inability to sync the various devices limits patients’ ability to gain a complete picture of how their glucose is affected by daily events, such as mealtimes, exercise and stress. Understanding the patterns of glucose fluctuation is critical to properly managing diabetes, a disease that affects an estimated 26 million people in the United States alone.

Panel participants engaged in a frank conversation about the barriers that have prevented device interoperability and data standardization, covering topics such as regulatory restrictions and requirements, industry budget limitations and the practice by some manufacturers to keep data in custom formats, which prevents data integration. Throughout, patient advocates were on hand to present the challenges presented by the lack of coordination and cooperation, which makes it more difficult for patients to work with their physicians to manage their disease.

McCollister-Slipp’s presentation and the panel that followed were part of a day-long, invitation only symposium sponsored by DiabetesMine, a leading diabetes blog and online patient community. The second annual DiabetesMine Innovation Summit aimed to spark discussion and catalyze progress toward improving the design, functionality and therapeutic benefits of diabetes medical devices.

Panel participants included:

Patient Participants:
Shara Bialo
Julie Cabinaw
Kyle Rose

Industry Participants:
Ed Fleming, Director of Device Business Channel Development, Sanofi-Aventis
Henry Anhalt, Former Chief Medical Officer, Artificial Pancreas Program, Animas, currently with Sanofi-Aventis
Patti Brennan, national program director of Project HealthDesign, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Glooko – Yogan Dalal, Co-Founder and Chairman, Glooko
Stayce Beck, Ph.D., Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health