Closing the Gap: Making Equitable Diabetes Care a Reality

Everyone deserves to live their healthiest life. It’s time to reverse systemic inequities in diabetes—who gets it, and how they are treated. It’s time to reverse the status quo in diabetes treatment.

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Diabetes doesn't impact everyone equally

People identifying as Black, Indigenous, or Hispanic and those with low-income, irrespective of race or ethnicity, are more likely to have type 2 diabetes and to suffer serious complications as a result¹. These disparities often persist in traditional models of care².

14.5% of Indigenous Americans have diagnosed diabetes, higher than any other group¹

Adults living below the poverty line have 2x risk of diabetes-related mortality²

People with diabetes experience higher rates of food insecurity³

4 out of 5 people on insulin report struggling to pay for it

Black Americans are about 50% more likely to have diabetes than non-hispanic whites people

Nearly 40% of Hispanic or Latino Americans with diabetes have not been formally diagnosed

Elizabeth, Virta patient

Former Virta Patient

Elizabeth, Chickasaw Nation

"I’m a Native American, and diabetes is rampant in our community. We are constantly seeing the horrors of diabetes, including progressive sickness, blindness, kidney issues, amputations, and sometimes even death. It’s important to me to convey the hope for a healthier life that Virta has brought me to other Native Americans so that they can experience this lifestyle change like I did."

Virta's health equity outcomes

Regardless of race and ethnicity, everyone improves their diabetes on Virta (measured by A1c, or blood sugar control.⁶) Lowering blood sugar can reduce the risk for complications like kidney disease, eye problems, and amputations that are more likely to affect different groups. And Virta patients see significant A1c improvement irrespective of the socioeconomic conditions of the location or neighborhood in which they live (measured by the Area Deprivation Index)⁷.

But the work is far from over. Read more about Virta's outcomes across racial and ethnic groups, patients living in neighborhoods with a wide range of socioeconomic conditions, and opportunities for closing the gaps that still exist in “Addressing Disparities in Diabetes Care.”

Read our 2022 report

Closing the Gap: Making Equitable Diabetes Care a Reality

Read our new report exploring how health disparities contribute to higher prevalence and worsening outcomes in type 2 diabetes, and how we can make more equitable care a reality.

Watch the webinar recording

Taking action: Virta's commitments to health equity

While Virta patients from all groups see health improvements, we are committed to making Virta more accessible and welcoming more diverse patients into our care.

What we're doing now

Collect data and understand disparities

Looking at outcomes by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic conditions to uncover and understand any gaps in our care is essential to continued innovation and inclusivity.

Deliver reversal at scale

Traditional diabetes management is failing to reduce cost and prevalence. Virta is delivering diabetes reversal across all groups.

Introduce new features

We’re investing in new features like bilingual options to make Virta more accessible.

What we're doing next

Learn

We’re learning from patients by forming diversity focus groups to better understand disparities, and building strong connections with community leaders.

Invest

We’ll continue to identify new areas for product user experience improvement to better serve diverse patient groups. We're also seeking opportunities to increase access in public programs, where more patients may receive coverage.

Measure

As we make changes, we’ll continue to analyze and share data on how we’re serving diverse communities.

Citations and Footnotes

  1. CDC, National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020 
  2. Hill-Briggs F, Adler NE, Berkowitz SA, et al. Social Determinants of Health and Diabetes: A Scientific Review. Diabetes Care. 2020 Nov 2;44(1):258–79. doi: 10.2337/dci20-0053.
  3. Kirby JB, Bernard D, Liang L. The Prevalence of Food Insecurity Is Highest Among Americans for Whom Diet Is Most Critical to Health. Diabetes Care. 2021; 44 (6): e131–e132
  4. Gordon, Deb, 4 Out Of 5 Americans With Diabetes Went Into Debt To Pay For Insulin, New Survey Shows, Forbes Magazine, June 2022.
  5. Northeast Business Group on Health. Obesity, Diabetes, and Racial Health Equity: What Employers Can do. March 2022. https://online.flippingbook.com/view/644877113/
  6. Virta Health Registry, covariate adjusted mean A1c at baseline and 6 months among T2D patients retained ≥ 180 days (83% retention) with lab HbA1c at 6±3 months (Cohort of n=7031), data as of 7/11/2022.
  7. Virta Health Registry, covariate adjusted mean A1c at baseline and 6 months among T2D patients retained ≥ 180 days (83% retention) with lab HbA1c at 6±3 months (Cohort of n=7031), data as of 7/11/2022.