Thinking About Trying CGM? Consider Professional CGM, Now That Dexcom’s G6 Pro Is Available For Pre-Order

By Karena Yan and Katie Mahoney

The G6 Pro includes several exciting new features and is expected to start shipping next week!

Dexcom recently launched preorders for its G6 Pro CGM system, with the new continuous glucose monitor (CGM) technology becoming available July 6. The Dexcom G6 starter kit is a tool that your healthcare professional would buy to use with people who have diabetes – it costs them $249 during the launch sale ($299 regularly) and includes four G6 sensors and transmitters, one reader, one charger, and one cable. It comes out to about $60 per CGM. Subsequent sensors and transmitters will cost $59 each.

The G6 Pro is a “professional” continuous glucose monitor, meaning that a healthcare professional gives it to someone with diabetes for a ten day session to better understand that person’s blood glucose levels. The G6 Pro was cleared by the FDA in October 2019 and will replace the 2012 Dexcom G4 Platinum Pro CGM system, which will be discontinued on August 1, 2020. This new system has many improvements, as described in our article, “Dexcom’s New Professional CGM Helps Improve Diabetes Outcomes” from last October. Although Dexcom will continue selling G4 Platinum Pro sensors and receivers until December 31, 2020, we’d suggest you tell your healthcare team about how much easier and better they may find the G6 Pro. The device can be used by people over the age of two.

Dexcom’s website for healthcare professionals highlights that the G6 Pro is the only single-use professional CGM with an “unblinded” mode option. What does that mean? This means it can allow users to see their data in real-time, as opposed to only in the clinic with their healthcare team. The ability to use the professional CGM in the unblinded mode may be helpful for people who want to try out all the features of a CGM before purchasing their own device. Healthcare professionals may also consider the person’s familiarity and comfort with CGM, their access to a smart device, their diabetes diagnosis, and their awareness of hypoglycemia when deciding between using the blinded or unblinded mode.

Other features of the G6 pro include the following:

• Blood glucose measurements every five minutes

• Hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia alerts (when used in the unblinded mode)

• No fingersticks or calibrations.

• Can be paired with the online Clarity platform, which shows data such as average glucose and time in range.

If you have the G6 already, how is the G6 Pro different? The G6 does not have a blinded mode and is for “full-time” use for people with diabetes (not just for use with a healthcare professional for a ten day session).

Professional CGM can provide people with diabetes (or prediabetes) and their healthcare team with insights that inform the user’s diabetes treatment. The data provided by CGM can help healthcare professionals make therapy and lifestyle recommendations for their patients, which in turn can lead to better glucose control. Healthcare professionals can already get reimbursement for the G6 Pro, and can bill for the application, training, and removal of the device, as well as the time spent discussing CGM data with the user. Does your healthcare team know they can get reimbursement for helping you get diabetes technology? To learn more they can read this article “A Look at the Current Reimbursement Environment for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM): Understanding the Fundamentals” in the Journal of Diabetes Science & Technology or find valuable codes on the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists website.