In this episode of Dana Tech Talks, a series of The Huddle: Conversations with the Diabetes Care Team, Dana Moreau and her guests Dr. Jay Shubrook and Dr. Clipper Young look back at how diabetes technology evolved in 2025, focusing less on new gadgets and more on better integration, usability, and real-world impact. They discuss expanded use of CGM and automated insulin delivery, the practical role of AI in simplifying data and decision-making, and ongoing challenges with implementation. They also share what to watch in 2026, including hospital use of diabetes devices and broader integration across healthcare systems. Explore the latest in diabetes technology as well as trainings and resources on danatech: danatech l Diabetes Technology Education for Healthcare Professionals Listen to the first episode of our Danatech Talks diabetes technology series: https://thehuddle.simplecast.com/episodes/basics-diabetes-technology-for-health-care-professionals
Dana Moreau
Welcome to Dana Tech Talks, special series from the huddle, conversations with the diabetes care team powered by ADCES. I'm Dana Moreau from Dana Tech and in this series we dig into what's actually happening in diabetes technology. What's changing care, what's creating friction and what's worth paying attention to right now. Whether you're newer to diabetes technology or you're deep in it every day, Dana Tech Talks is about real world insight that you can actually use. Today, instead of trying to cover everything that happened in diabetes tech in 2025, which would be virtually impossible, we're going to focus on the types of inundation and what really changed day to day and what we're watching as we head into this brand new year.
I'm joined by two individuals who see this from slightly different viewpoints, but each are very complimentary. I've got Clipper Young, professor and clinical pharmacy specialist, and Jay Shubrook, professor and diabetologist.
And before we dive in, I'd love for each of you to briefly introduce yourselves. Tell me about your role and in one sentence, really how you tend to look at diabetes technology. Is it primarily through a clinical lens, a system lens, something else? Clipper, let's start with you.
Clipper Young
Yeah, sure. Hello, everybody. So I'm Clipper Young, and I work at the intersection of diabetes care, public health, and technology. So I tend to look at diabetes technology through a care delivery lens, not just what the tool does, but also how it changes clinical decisions, as well as team flows. And also most important is really the burden on the users.
Dana Moreau
And Jay, what about you?
Jay Shubrook
As a diabetologist in clinical practice, I really do see the clinical side and what I hope is trying to have an appreciation of how technology can help not only clinical care, but the person's experience with diabetes. so, trying to have both that patient and clinician perspective.
Dana Moreau
Great. Getting into kind of the meat of this podcast, when you both think back on 2025, rather than thinking about just a specific product or a feature, what category of diabetes tech felt meaningfully different than it did in years past? Jay, you want to start?
Jay Shubrook
Sure. So I think there's a couple things. First of all, we're seeing an expanded use of continuous glucose sensors beyond the diabetes space and really in the kind of wellness space. I think that has lots of challenges, but also lots of things that could be very positive. And I also think we continue to inch closer and closer to fully automated systems. And I think that's something that's really going to be a game changer.
And I think that really can improve the patient experience. Maybe I should have also mentioned continuous ketone monitors, which I think also is another technology that's exciting.
Dane Moreau
Exactly. Hey Clipper, what's your perspective on this?
Clipper Young
Yeah, so to me, 2025 wasn't about really brand new categories of technology. It was really more about maturity. So the big shift was diabetes technology becoming more usable, more integrated, and also more embedded into routine care. Like you're probably thinking, why do I say that? So some examples would be the automated insulin delivery expanded beyond type 1 diabetes into the type 2 diabetes management space.
So Omnipod 5 really led the way and I saw that being used on patients with type 2 diabetes in 2025. And then Tendem's control IQ technology was approved for type 2 diabetes in February 2025 and then at Tronic 780G follow up in September 2025 and also for adults 18 and up. So not just that and also FDA clear the
Metronix 780G system to enable integration with the Instinct sensor. So to me, this is really a huge change.
Dana Moreau
Yeah, clearly, I mean, you both pointed out that there was a lot going on in 2025, and it was hard for many of us, I think, to digest, but all very exciting news. And what I think I'm hearing you say is really this is less about like a one big breakthrough in any category and more about how technology is starting to show up very differently in the flow of care, be it in the devices or elsewhere. So I think this is a good segue into talking about one of our favorite topics, AI.
So AI as we know is everywhere in diabetes technology right now and technology marketing and in care, which is a reality. But when clinicians or patients are interacting with something labeled as AI in diabetes tech today, can you tell us in very practical terms, what are they actually experiencing? Because I found this to be difficult to explain and it's a question that I often ask people and don't always get the best answers. And Jay, let's start with you.
Jay Shubrook
Sure, and I am not at all a technology person. So in terms of being a leader, I try to catch up and I try to keep up. know, AI has been around a long time. You know, what we identify as AI as a distinct thing has been in development for a long time and has really built much of what we have today. So I think this is just the continuation of computer-assisted decision-making and predictions. And I think it's a tool. And if it's a tool we recognize as a tool.
It has a lot of power that can really help. Because quite honestly, I remember when we went to hybrid closed loop systems, humans, while we have lots of opinions, we rarely are as accurate as things that use machine learning and other forms of AI.
Clipper Young
Yeah, so I would say similar to Jay, I'm trying to catch up as much as I can. So I think people with diabetes perhaps aren't really seeing AI as a robot. They probably see AI as assistant or trying to help them to see the clarity in terms of sugar management. So what do I mean by that? So instead of having a logbook with 300 numbers, they see a simple notification provided by AI, probably saying you tend to go low on Thursday night after your gym. And then really in this case, AI, it's really helping the user to see the pattern. So also I try to categorize the different types of AI specifically in diabetes. So I see at least two categories. So the first would be the visual AI, like users are snapping photos of the food that they're eating. And then back in July, 2025, Dexcom actually launched the smart food logging feature for both Stelo and also Dexcom G7. So I feel like this feature uses AI to identify ingredients from a photo and also populate the meal that probably a meal description.
And the second category is really predictive AI. So some platforms are moving from retrospective review to really predictive insights. So an example that I'm able to somehow learn more about is we the my sugar glucose insights in certain features certain configuration includes real time predictions of where glucose levels are heading using the CGM sensor and getting data connecting to the app. this predictive layer has the potential to reduce stress, anxiety around hypoglycemia. But still this requires context and judgment from humans.
And I think there's a good distinction there too. mean, these are tools designed to support decisions, but they're not necessarily replacing them. And that theme comes up a lot, especially when we talk about how the same technology lands differently depending on what it is and who is using it. One thing we see often is that the same technology can feel transformative for one group, but frustrating for another. So questions specifically for Clipper. From the clinician or care team side, what kinds of diabetes tech improvements in 2025 actually made people's lives easier?
Clipper Young
Yeah, so I have been really looking into a lot this past year and honestly, Dana, the biggest improvement to me wasn't about a device. It was really the ecosystem development and integration. An example that I was able to somehow look more into was the death of the double login. So what do I mean by that? Even though having this integration will not solve all the problems, but still it's an improvement for a decade, if not more, the biggest barrier for us clinicians has been the portal fatigue, meaning having to leave EHR and then log into a separate website just to see the glucose numbers. So just think about the steps and also the mental fatigue. So in 2025, so we finally broke the wall, at least to a certain extent, that an integration was made available for connecting Vibray CGM with EPICS, Electronic Health Record Systems.
So that allowed clinicians to view glucose data within Epic, captured by the Libre devices. So this probably sounds a little technical, but also I feel like this also very practical as well, because this means CGM data can finally be treated like a vital sign. It lives in the EHR, not really on an island, that we have to somehow go hunt for that data. And this buys back a few minutes per patient that we see and which in turn reduces friction during office visits, which is gold in our world. And then I really look forward to seeing the integration to scale in this upcoming year.
Dana Moreau
Again, I agree with that perspective completely. It really isn't about the individual tech, but about the systems and the ecosystem. So, great response. And then Jay, thinking about this from a patient perspective, what improvements felt, I guess, the most noticeable or the most meaningful to you?
Jay Shubrook
I have been very excited about patient willingness to engage in technology to assist in diabetes care. And that actually is kind of a wide range. It could be anything from a smart pen to a platform, which they could upload data to CGMs to AID devices, or even a digital twin, right? I mean, there's all these different things. I think I would be most important to remind everyone that we continue to grow. It's not like we take a step and stop and we adjust things continue to move. So we're all going to be moving on a different path. So I have some patients who are going to be late adopters. And so we might say that we're going to be using assisted devices that are maybe less observant to them as we start to get their comfort moving up. But I think seeing so many people engage in technology and seeing it as a tool, it's been really exciting. And I only hope that we can get clinicians to join Euclid Well because I think particularly in the sensor space,
There are more patients looking at their data than clinicians, from my opinion.
Dana Moreau
Right, and I think we're seeing some positive movements in the outcomes of different courses and educational content we put out there. So I'm very optimistic that that is going to happen, that we're on the move. Next question though, despite all of this progress, what still feels harder than it should in diabetes care, even with this better technology or more sophisticated technology? And a kind of a follow-up to that, do you see that primarily as a technology problem? Or more of like a design implementation problem right now.
Jay Shubrook
Yeah, we have plenty of issues still to come. think that not all systems are open to integrating outside information into their health systems, into their EHR. Again, getting things integrated to EHRs is wonderful, as Clipper mentioned. There's still lots of systems that won't do it. And so I think trying to keep up with the growth of technology where a system or the environment is unwilling to move as fast as technology.
That can be a real challenge and I think that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and I think we should take our incremental steps. But I do think it's a pain point for a lot of people when they just can't either one, get access to the data they need or two, the system isn't working to make it happen.
Dana Moreau
Yeah, that's exactly right. And Clipper, what's your response to this?
Clipper Young
Yeah, they not so it feels like the technology might be smarter, but the setup is still very intimidating. So like in my opinion, I see it every day that we still spend way too much time of our clinical visit trying to figure out the Bluetooth connectivity or ensuring coverage rather than truly spending time with our patient discussing data and also taking a deeper dive into the impact of behavioral changes.
So I really see this, barrier that we're seeing as a design and implementation problems. I hope that we will have a better solution moving forward.
Dana Moreau
And while I don't want to refer to these as problems, let's talk about them as opportunities. And that naturally brings us to what we are looking at next in 2026. So as we continue to head into this exciting new year, what's one area of diabetes tech that you are watching very closely? And not necessarily because it's new or flashy, but because it could meaningfully address some of these challenges that you've both pointed out if done well. Clipper you want to go first?
Clipper Young
Sure, sure. So one of the major pushes in 2025 was really the use of CGM and also AID systems in the hospitals. So allowing users to stay on their home devices during the stay, provided that the hospital has to have the proper monitoring infrastructure to support that. So then we see the ADA 2026 standards of care supports the continuing of personal CGM and even pumps and AID systems when clinically appropriate. And this is really contingent upon the institutional protocols and also staffing and training, all of that. So I'll be watching this closely, even though I practice in an outpatient care setting, because with more and more people with type 2 diabetes potentially will start on an AID system. And this eventually will become a care gap if a proper mechanism is not put in place on the inpatient side.
Dana Moreau
Great. And then Jay, what is your perspective here?
Jay Shubrook
Yeah, boy, I'm excited to see better integration of technology into population health. I think that there is a fabulous opportunity for me to come in the morning and see which of my patient population really needs the most immediate attention. And, you know, having a universal or universal platforms to intake data from whatever they're using could be a really big step to improvement. I think the other part of that is to make sure that we properly train the entire healthcare system to interface with diabetes technology better. Because I think it's often been seen in the specialty space, and sure, that's where it may start, but most of our people with diabetes are in the primary care space, and we need to train, enable, and empower those people to utilize technology to better help their patients with diabetes.
Dana Moreau
Okay, so before we wrap up, let's bring this back to something practical for healthcare professionals who might be listening. So from your perspective, if you're an HCP right now trying to keep up with diabetes technology, what's one area that earned more of your attention in 2025 and one area that maybe earned less attention than any hype suggested? And Jay will go first.
Jay Shubrook
Yeah, so I think from AID, the new systems are getting closer and closer, but I don't know that they have had the impact so far that I was hoping for. I will tell you though that I am very excited about seeing the implementation of sensing and remote monitoring devices in a wider population that's going to allow us, I hope, not only to help manage and improve safety in diabetes, might even move upstream to do things like diabetes prevention or improving safety medications. Those are the things I think both were the high and the not low, but the looking forward to seeing more improvement.
Dana Moreau
What's the one area that earned more of your attention in 2025 than you thought it would? And what's an area maybe that you think deserved less attention than it actually got?
Clipper Young
It feels like for the last decade or so, we treated pumps and AID systems like a reward for those who were labeled as a good patient, who lock everything, who did everything. But in the past year and a half, so the new type two diabetes indication for the pump system, which I have mentioned in the earlier, the Omnipot 5, Metronix 780G, and also the Tendon Control IQ Plus technology, was important and the ABA standards of care 2026 states that the AID systems are the preferred insulin delivery method in adults with type 2 diabetes. So this really changed the narrative completely. So technology is really ever changing space and there's a lot for us to keep up on and with the addition of AI being added into trying to help patients and helping the clinicians to increase the quality of care billing deliver. But that also adds a lot of anxiety, at least really on my part, to keep up with all of that. So I feel like we really have to somehow, in addition to increasing our clinical ability and also competency, but really don't forget to carve out some time for us to absorb all this new technologies being introduced every day. So that will really help us to becoming a really more competent clinician.
Dana Moreau
What a fabulous thought to end on, Clipper. And I 100 % agree. Jay, anything we missed today? Any parting thoughts you want to leave?
Jay Shubrook
Well, first of all, thank you for having us. It's a delight to be part of this. And I think the first and most important thing is let's keep talking. Let's keep talking about what are our successes, what are our own challenges, and what can we do better for clinicians and for patients. And I think if we're talking, we'll get there.
Dana Moreau
Thank you both for being here today and helping us understand how diabetes technology actually showed up in care last year and where, importantly, it needs to go next. That's a wrap today for this episode of Dana Tech Talks, a special series from the huddle. I hope today's conversation helped put 2020 FUD's diabetes tech advances into real world context. For more in-depth resources training, expert guidance on diabetes technology and more, visit danatech.org.
And don't forget to subscribe to The Huddle so you never miss an episode. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable for individual circumstances. This podcast does not provide medical or professional advice and is not a substitute or consultation with a healthcare professional. Please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions.