Cerner and Livongo Announce Agreement To Help Health Care Providers And Patients Better Manage Diabetes

Cerner Corp. (CERN) today announced a multi-year agreement with Livongo Health™ to connect diabetes screening data collected from "smart" consumer devices with Cerner health care clients. For people with diabetes, this can mean more effective self-management and a better use of time with their clinician. For care teams, this provides near real-time access to patient information, enabling quick interventions when a patient might be headed toward trouble. The relationship is the latest advancement in Cerner's broad population health strategy to foster greater consumer and clinical device connectivity inside and out of care facilities. Livongo is focused on empowering people with chronic conditions to live better. With approximately 9 percent of the U.S. population affected by diabetes, Livongo's first offering – Livongo for Diabetes – improves the care model for one of the country's most prevalent health conditions. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that diabetes costs in the United States add up to $245 billion a year in medical care and lost work and wages. The Cerner-Livongo relationship aims to decrease that cost by helping patients and providers proactively manage this chronic condition, thus avoiding high-cost care.1 While the traditional diabetes care model relies heavily on in-clinic monitoring and direct physician interaction, the Livongo device remotely transmits the information to a smart cloud for analysis. Actionable information is then quickly returned to the individual and members of their care team. Patients use Livongo's cellular-enabled blood glucose meter to measure their blood glucose levels, which are then automatically sent to the individuals they've designated, including physicians, family members, care coordinators and population health managers or other members of their care team. The device also passively collects information on activity and records behavioral information. Once the information is shared, that person's care team can provide support if values are outside of their normal range. "We are excited to be working with Cerner," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Livongo Health. "This relationship enables us to rapidly deploy the latest innovative technology globally, making a difference in the lives of people with diabetes while at the same time helping to address the cost of treatment that all too often limits care. The combination of Cerner's architecture with Livongo's real-time diabetes ecosystem finally offers the ability for healthcare organizations to cost-effectively and efficiently extend care for chronic conditions beyond the four walls of the hospital." Livongo is one of many organizations to use Cerner's CareAware approach to device connectivity outside the clinical setting, a key component of Cerner's vision to centralize the focus of care around the patient rather than the provider. "This is the right program at the right time to empower our clients and their patients with the real-time information they need to help effectively manage and improve their health," said Zane Burke, President of Cerner. "It fits perfectly with our vision for population health, which is to provide clarity to millions of data points in an actionable and timely way to improve health and care outcomes across the population." 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report: Estimates of Diabetes and Its Burden in the United States, 2014. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2014.