Becky Sulik, RDN, LD, CDCES, and Bethany Long, BSN, RN, CDCES, join us to discuss how automated insulin delivery systems (AID), like the Omnipod 5, are transforming diabetes management and making mealtime bolusing easier. Becky and Bethany share insights on the Omnipod 5 AID system, including user-friendly built-in features that facilitate onboarding and increase carb awareness skills in a variety of people with diabetes. The episode highlights real-world applications and personal stories that diabetes care and education specialists can utilize in practice to quickly onboard and empower their clients today. This episode was supported by Insulet. A guest featured on this show has a commercial relationship with Insulet, and another guest is an employee of the company. The opinions expressed in this webinar are those of the speakers and do not reflect the views or positions of Insulet.
Becky Sulik, RDN, LD, CDCES, and Bethany Long, BSN, RN, CDCES, join us to discuss how automated insulin delivery systems (AID), like the Omnipod 5, are transforming diabetes management and making mealtime bolusing easier. Becky and Bethany share insights on the Omnipod 5 AID system, including user-friendly built-in features that facilitate onboarding and increase carb awareness skills in a variety of people with diabetes. The episode highlights real-world applications and personal stories that diabetes care and education specialists can utilize in practice to quickly onboard and empower their clients today.
This episode was supported by Insulet. A guest featured on this show has a commercial relationship with Insulet, and another guest is an employee of the company. The opinions expressed in this webinar are those of the speakers and do not reflect the views or positions of Insulet.
Resources:
References: Davis GM, et al. Simplified Meal Bolus Strategies for the Omnipod®5 Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) System in People with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D): Sub-Analysis of the SECURE-T2D Study. Presented at: ATTD; March 19-22, 2025; Amsterdam, NL. Post-hoc analysis limits conclusions. Insulet Data on file. RF-062025-00012
Important safety information: The Omnipod® 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System is a single hormone insulin delivery system intended to deliver U-100 insulin subcutaneously for the management of type 1 diabetes in persons aged 2 and older requiring insulin and type 2 diabetes in persons aged 18 and older. Rx only. WARNING: Do not use SmartAdjust™ technology for people under the age of 2 or who require less than 5 U of insulin per day. Visit omnipod.com/safety for complete safety information.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Hello and welcome to ADCES's podcast, The Huddle: Conversations with the diabetes care team. In each episode, we speak with guests from across the diabetes care space to bring you perspectives, issues and updates that elevate your role, inform your practice and ignite your passion. I'm Jodi Lavin-Tompkins, the Director of Accreditation and Content Development at the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists.
I would like to acknowledge Insulet's support for this podcast. My guests today are Becky Sulik, Director of Education at Rocky Mountain Diabetes Center in Idaho Falls, and Bethany Long, a manager in medical affairs at Insulet. We're going to discuss simplified approaches to meals using AID, or automated insulin delivery, including examples of people using the Custom Foods feature in the Omnipod 5 automated insulin delivery system.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Welcome Becky and Bethany.
Becky Sulik
I'm really excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Bethany Long
Hi Jodi, really excited to be here. Thanks for having us.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Yes, well before we jump into the topic, I'd love for each of you to tell the audience a bit more about yourselves and your background as it relates to today's topic.
Becky Sulik
Great. As mentioned, I work as a diabetes care and education specialist. also registered dietitian. I've been doing this for 29 years. I've had type 1 diabetes for over 40 years and have used all of the different AID systems and consider myself a confirmed diabetes nerd.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
That's great. Well, Bethany, tell us about yourself.
Bethany Long
So I'm a nurse and a diabetes care and education specialist. And I also have type 1 diabetes for now over 23 years. And I've been using the Omnipod system for over 16 years and specifically been using the Omnipod 5 system since 2022.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Okay, well having been a CDCS for a long time, I have past experience with getting people on insulin pumps, okay? And we had a lot of criteria and hoops that people had to jump through for them to be considered quote, a good candidate for a pump, unquote. The systems today are more automated and a lot has changed over time. So Becky, I'm wondering if you could talk about how this has changed your practice.
Becky Sulik
I'm so excited because I remember all of those hoops and criteria and things that we needed to have people meet before we felt like they would be safe on a pump and now it is just the opposite. There's a so much smaller group that won't benefit from a pump and so automated insulin delivery I believe has really opened many opportunities for people with diabetes and so as diabetes care and education specialists we really need to reframe what we are determining as success. And we need to think of each individual when we determine what that success might be for them. People with diabetes that have all these different perceived barriers can really benefit from AID systems. And I hope that as we talk about this, you will jump on that bandwagon and consider other people that might be appropriate.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. And I want to talk about carb counting a bit. So when it comes to carb counting, we see a wide variety of skill levels in people that we're trying to work with. And so, Becky, being a dietitian, how do you work with people and take this wide variability into account?
Becky Sulik
So for many years, especially when I've been working with students, I used to use this term carbohydrate awareness to describe the skill levels of people as they progress through their diabetes journey in relation to food and managing their food. And I like to think of it as a continuum. And we start out for someone that's fairly new, their skill that they might have would be just to simply identify carbohydrate foods, which have carbohydrate and which do not.
And then as we move on, they might then develop some skills for some simple quantification. They might be able to say that a fist size or a size of a tennis ball, those kind of things to identify somewhat of a portion. As they get better, they might be able to quantify in more detailed portions such as cups, half cups, things like that. And the most complex method or skill on this continuum would be actually what we would use to call for precise carbohydrate counting, but this is where they would be able to determine grams of carbohydrate in a meal for themselves. And being able to calculate this is certainly helpful, but what we're finding now with automated insulin delivery systems is that people earlier in this continuum can still use and greatly benefit from using automated insulin delivery. So they don't have to be precise carb counters to see this benefit.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, that's a relief because I know some people struggle, right? And I remember using the FIST method you talked about and saying, this is 15 grams, right? So I was trying to do a little of both. But now turning to AID systems, how do the different skill levels with carb counting that you talked about factor into using the systems? And what is the role of the diabetes care and education specialist with this?
Becky Sulik
I find that the diabetes care and education specialist can really shine here because we are so good at individualizing care for our patients with diabetes. And I believe that we can do the same thing with automated insulin delivery to help them take advantage of this. So consider these different skill levels as an opportunity to teach and evaluate differently. And think about people with carbohydrate counting. They can identify foods on a plate, I would argue that you can help them be able to successfully use an automated insulin delivery system.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, that's great news, and I'm wondering if there are specific features of the Omnipod 5 that will help with this and how you use them.
Becky Sulik
I find with Omnipod 5 in particular it has one great feature called Custom Foods. And what this does, this allows you to preset specific foods into a list and you can use these skills that the patients have such as if they can identify carbohydrate foods you can interview them and talk about what is the usual breakfast lunch or dinner and you can program those with an amount of carbs. or you can set up a small, medium, large in this and then all they have to do is pick off that list rather than have to sit there and do math when they're getting ready to eat their meal.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
I think it's always helpful to bring all this to life with examples. Bethany, I was wondering if you could tell us more about your personal story and your experience with all this.
Bethany Long
Yeah, so as I mentioned earlier, I have type 1 diabetes and I use the Omnipot 5 system and I think Custom Foods is really unique and something that I myself even find helpful because even though I've had diabetes for a long time and I understand how to carb count, It's been ingrained in me for how long I've had diabetes. Diabetes is still very challenging and time-consuming and I have two little ones at home, and you know when you're sitting down and ready to eat a meal, I have about 30 seconds to bolus for my insulin at the meal and get going so
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Hehehe.
Bethany Long
I have found Custom Foods really helpful to just kind of speed up that process a little bit and still be accurate as far as kind of gauging an overall like where am I in the ballpark as far as my carbs for the meal. So what I do is I kind of set up my typical meals that I eat on a pretty regular basis for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When you have diabetes, you're used to eating similar things all the time and you kind of get accustomed to the carb counts and whatnot. So it's not really changing that often on a day-to-day basis for me. So I set those up as Custom Foods for myself to almost make them shortcuts and just make it so much easier at meal times. And especially with using the iPhone for Omnipod 5, you know, I'm able just to pull out my phone, go to the bolusing button and go to my Custom Foods, click as an option, pull it into the calculator and dose and be on my way. So I found it really helpful just being a busy mom and even just busy in my day-to-day work life that just having everything set up for me ahead of time just helps set me up for success and makes bolusing be a little bit less of a burden.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, hearing about what works well for you is really interesting. And I know that you've probably picked up a few insider tips or anecdotal tips from working with clinicians and people with diabetes. So maybe Bethany, you could start us off with what are some of those things that you've learned?
Bethany Long
Yes, I'm very fortunate within my role with Insulet working on a lot of our professional education initiatives and presentations, getting able to speak with clinicians and hear their experiences of learning using our different features with Omnipod 5 and Once we came out with Custom Foods and we were hearing from clinicians how they're using these in their practice, one specific example I think about is with a patient who has lower literacy level. And I've heard from clinicians that they find Custom Foods extremely helpful because they can either program it to say, you know, small, medium, large, or meal and snack, but they can also use emojis. And it makes it even more fun because they can just program, for example, if they're eating pizza, they can put the pizza emoji slice for one slice or two slices and put the corresponding carb amount. Or I've even heard of clinicians using like the hand emoji and teaching patients that if there's one hand, you know, that's one portion for whatever they're eating and maybe that's 15 grams. And if there's two hands emojis, that's 30. So being able to really think outside the box and use Custom Foods to meet a variety of patient needs and really meet them where they are just in their understanding of bolusing at meals.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, speaking of emojis, I've noticed in my news feed there's a new puzzle that they're offering that has to do with interpreting emojis and filling in the blanks for phrases. So I know emojis are becoming a more popular learning or teaching tool. So that's great.
Bethany Long
Yeah. Yeah. And Becky, I would love to hear some examples of how you've been using Custom Foods in your practice.
Becky Sulik
I think I'll start out with an example of an actual patient that I've been working with for a number of years and I'm going to call her M. M has had diabetes for about 21 years. She's had type 1. And she used to be an insulin pumper. And she was familiar with carb counting and so forth. At some point along the way, she became embroiled with drugs and alcohol. And she's been into a couple treatment centers. At the time, they stopped her using the insulin pump because they felt like it was unsafe for her because she wasn't filling it with insulin and so forth. She's now been through some treatment and is a recovering alcoholic. And we talked about using the Omnipod 5 as a way to help her. Now she has the knowledge of carb counting, but really doesn't have the bandwidth to do it. She just has too many other things to worry about. And so when we set her up with the Omnipod, we did the small, and large thing and interviewed her to determine what her small, medium, and large were, as well as finding some other foods that she commonly eats by themselves. And we put these in the Custom Foods. And then one other problem that she has is that because of her recovery, she tends to have the night binge eating where she'll eat food and she often doesn't remember to bowl this. And so we figured out what a safe amount of carbs would be and created a entry called Binge so that at night when she's eating, she is able to remember to pull up that bolus and Custom Foods and give that. And she is doing so much better. And she would have been one that we would have thought maybe wouldn't be a good candidate in the past, but is really winning this battle with her type 1 diabetes and using these tools.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
You know, that's a great example. Becky, thanks for sharing that. And I'm wondering if there are other examples, like how does the diabetes care and education specialist assess the person sitting in front of them to see if that Custom Foods feature would be helpful to them?
Becky Sulik
I think that first of all, anyone that is challenged by the complexity of having to do all the steps that go into a bolus, if that seems to be a barrier, then we have a win here. And also, as Bethany mentioned earlier, just convenience. Even people that are precise carb counters that they're pretty good at, who doesn't use some convenience to help with things like that? I also think people with learning barriers.
For example, if they have the literacy or numeracy issues that was mentioned earlier, this is great. We have some success with people who are not great at counting things that can use this product. And I think another situation that I love to use this for is when someone has a caregiver or someone else is required to help the user give me a bolus is to be able to set up Custom Foods, so that those people who are often not experts can really help their loved one be successful.
Bethany Long
And I think too, Becky, I would also want to add in not discounting this for a strategy also with type two patients, because now we have AID systems that are approved in type two diabetes, including the Omnipod 5 system we presented at the past ADA sessions that in a sub analysis of our secure T2D pivotal trial, which was using Omnipod 5 and type two participants, we looked at glycemic outcomes with bolusing behaviors by meal bolusing strategy with Omnipod 5 and we saw that really regardless of what meal bolusing method they were using, there were similar improvements in time and range across all subgroups. So, if someone was using a simplified carb entry approach or more traditional carb counting, manually bolusing or using the bolus calculator and just giving correction boluses as opposed to like entering carbs, there were similar glycemic improvements across people with type two diabetes. It really means that Omnipod 5 can really help regardless of what meal bolusing strategy someone is using, whether that's you know, in type two diabetes, or we've talked a lot about using Custom Foods in type one diabetes. But, you know, I hope that we can all think about how this technology can just meet patients where they are in terms of their meal dosing methods and just kind of challenge this notion that carb counting is, you know, a prerequisite for someone considering AID.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, Bethany, thanks for adding some information about the benefits in type 2 diabetes. We should also consider that as well. And I'm wondering if there are any tools or resources that would help our listeners who want to learn more. And we can include those in the show notes.
Bethany Long
Yeah, absolutely. So I would encourage everyone, if you have not already, download the Omnipod 5 Simulator app and you can get a little bit more hands-on practice and see the use of Custom Foods with it. We also have some really great resources on our website, omnipod.com slash HCP. There's a Custom Foods blog there that has some great tips for you know, simplifying meals for people using Omnipod 5. And then we have a great Custom Foods brochure. It's simplifying carb counting with Custom Foods. And it really kind of walks you through how to save these Custom Foods using the Omnipod 5 app and how to think about pre-setting these in, whether that's the controller or the iPhone or Android, you can use Custom Foods now across any of the devices that you're using for the Omnipod 5 app.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
That sounds great. Lots of good resources for people who want to know more. So check out our show notes. And now Becky, I'm wondering if you could close us off with any thoughts you have, any closing thoughts.
Becky Sulik
You bet. I think one of the number one encouragements I would give to the diabetes care and education specialist listening here is really open up your mind to who could benefit. Get rid of those notions of we need to be a precise CARB counter and think more about the carbohydrate awareness spectrum that I talked about earlier. And people all along that skill level technically could use these devices and the Custom Foods would be able to help you do this and really you can shine here in making an impact in people's lives who we would have previously thought were not appropriate for an insulin pump.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Well, thank you both again for sharing your experiences and expertise with our listeners. You both shared some great tips and information and resources that they can use in their own practices. And in turn, this should help people with diabetes and anything that simplifies managing diabetes is what we're all about.
Bethany Long
Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed being here. Thank you to Becky for giving this insightful information about your experience as well.
Becky Sulik
Thank you for having me, and I'm excited to see more use of these devices going forward.
Jodi Lavin-Tompkins
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Huddle. Make sure to download the resources discussed on today's episode. You can find them linked in the show notes. And remember, being an ADCES member gets you access to many resources, education, and networking opportunities. Learn about the many benefits of ADCES membership at adces.org forward slash join.
The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable for your individual circumstances. This podcast does not provide medical or professional advice and is not a substitute for consultation with a healthcare professional. Please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions.