March 23, 2004
What is an insulin pump?
An insulin pump is a small, battery-operated device (about the size of a pager or cell phone) that can replace insulin injections for patients managing diabetes. An insulin pump more closely mimics a healthy pancreas by continuously delivering small doses of insulin around the clock, even while a patient sleeps. Pump users can also deliver insulin at the touch of a few buttons, enabling them to improve their blood sugar (glucose) control. With the newest pumps, the pump can be linked to a glucose meter, allowing transfer of data from the meter to the pump to help analyze and choose doses that will be administered.[Top]
Why pump therapy?
Insulin pumps enable tighter glucose control than any other insulin delivery method for many diabetes patients. Maintaining tight blood glucose control is associated with a reduction in the incidence and severity of long-term diabetes complications (such as blindness, impotence, kidney failure, amputation, and heart disease) and lower healthcare costs. Insulin pumps can also provide better quality of life as compared to traditional injection therapy.[Top]
How does an insulin pump work?
A pump delivers insulin to the body from a reservoir inside the pump through a thin plastic tube (called an infusion set). Most infusion sets are worn in the abdominal area and use a tiny, flexible tube, called a cannula, which is easily inserted into the skin with an insertion device. Patients generally refill their insulin and change their infusion sets every two to three days.A pump automatically delivers a constant rate of insulin — called a "basal rate" — to keep the blood glucose in the desired range between meals and during the night. A pump is easy to program and users can customize a variety of insulin delivery rates to match their particular lifestyle needs.
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What are the benefits of pump therapy?
- The pump helps achieve tight glucose control. An insulin pump is an excellent tool for helping people improve glucose control. Diabetes patients can easily adjust insulin to keep glucose levels within a near-normal range. A pump can help patients avoid hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), which can degrade health over time, and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), an acute condition that can place a patient at risk of coma or even death.
- The pump more closely mimics a healthy pancreas. Just as a healthy pancreas delivers insulin every few minutes, an insulin pump delivers insulin continuously with minimal variability. A pump delivers insulin around the clock and allows patients to program multiple basal rates depending on their individual needs.
- The pump is precise and accurate. Pumps delivery tiny increments of insulin whish is impossible to do with traditional injection therapy.
- Perhaps most importantly, with an insulin pump, people with diabetes can enjoy a more flexible lifestyle. Pump users can program insulin delivery at mealtimes in varying amounts to cover different-sized meals. They can adjust or stop insulin delivery upon demand to match exercise needs, or lifestyle changes (for instance, weekends vs. weekdays vs holidays). Patients using pump therapy can eat what they want, whenever they want — something unheard of with traditional programs of insulin shots, where patients must follow rigid injection and meal schedules associated with such programs.
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How important is tight glucose control?
Tight glucose control helps people with diabetes maintain good health, as proven by numerous studies, including the landmark DCCT. In that study, diabetes patients who maintained near-normal glucose control with pumps or with injections given in basal-bolus programs, significantly reduced their risk of long-term complications. Additionally a DCCT follow-up study showed that near-normal control can delay the onset of complications from diabetes by an average of 15 years, and prolong live an average of five years.[Top]
How many people wear insulin pumps?
Approximately 200,000 Americans use pump therapy, and an estimated 100,000 more use insulin pumps in other parts of the world (as of 2003).[Top]
Are insulin pumps covered by insurance?
Insulin pumps are covered by most insurance plans. Medicare also covers insulin pumps for patients meeting eligibility requirements.The pump companies keep extensive records of which insurance companies pay, and what their criteria for coverage might be. The pump companies also provide insurance verification, billing and reimbursement assistance to their customers to help people start insulin pump therapy. Indeed, some companies have assistance programs for people with demonstrated need, but without financial resources or insurance coverage.
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How can a diabetes patient obtain an insulin pump?
An insulin pump requires a prescription from a physician. Physicians and diabetes patients can contact companies for more information about a pump by visiting the companies' websites, and by calling their toll-free telephone numbers (phone numbers available at the websites). The companies bend over backward to assist with customer service, providing not only financial but educational support for patients who will be starting pump therapy — trained diabetes nurses will usually visit the patient at their own home to be sure things get started correctly.
Pump companies in the United States are:
This webpage is based on an insulin pump "backgrounder" written by Medtronic MiniMed. We are grateful to them for authorizing reproduction with editorial changes by the authors of this website. The original is posted at their website, and is copyright by Medtronic, Inc. 2003. For further reproduction, please obtain copyright permission from Medtronic, Inc.
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