Remote Monitoring for Pediatric Diabetes: A Lifeline for Busy Families

If you care for pediatric endocrinology patients, you know how much time and coordination it takes for families to manage type 1 diabetes. Between school, extra‑curricular activities, homework, meal prep, and everything else, parents already have their hands full. Add in the daily demands of diabetes management, and it can quickly become overwhelming for both the child and caregivers. 

Remote monitoring for pediatric diabetes offers a practical, effective way for your practice to support these families between visits. It typically includes regular (often monthly) reviews of the data coming in from a child’s continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and/or insulin pump, along with proactive outreach to discuss any needed changes to medications or daily habits between appointments.  

This approach ensures parents know that someone is more regularly checking their child’s data — and will step in with extra support whenever needed. This is especially important in pediatrics, where insulin needs shift frequently due to growth, puberty, and constantly changing routines. Plus, families receive feedback and guidance remotely without having to squeeze another in‑office appointment into their already demanding schedules. 

Here’s exactly how remote diabetes monitoring can help your practice deliver higher‑quality diabetes care while easing the burden for families: 

1. More convenient, consistent touchpoints that families appreciate 

Evidence shows that consistent touchpoints and follow-up in diabetes care can improve self-management behaviors.¹ But frequent in-office appointments aren’t always possible for families with young children. Remote monitoring can supplement that in-person care.  

In fact, since the post-COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a readily accessible option for families to get the care they need, in the comfort of their own homes. With such demanding schedules, it’s no surprise that many parents even prefer the convenience of telehealth.² 

With remote monitoring, your care team can maintain frequent touchpoints without requiring travel or time away from school or work. Many of these check‑ins can happen over the phone and be scheduled at times that work best for the family. By meeting families where they are, this added layer of support can feel like a true benefit — not just another task on their to‑do list. 

2. Proactive, regular data reviews that catch trends early 

When glucose levels are only reviewed at in-office appointments every few months, there may be long periods of time when important trends are going unnoticed. That means your team is often reacting, rather than proactively guiding care. 

A successful remote diabetes monitoring program often uses a software platform that allows providers and care teams to easily view diabetes device data across their entire pediatric patient population. This provides easy access to real-time glucose trends, enabling routine data reviews and the ability to fine-tune therapy. With this proactive approach, you can intervene early — before small issues turn into bigger problems.  

This is especially critical in pediatric diabetes management, where insulin sensitivity and insulin requirements can change rapidly due to growth, puberty, and developmental changes. Children and adolescents also have constantly shifting schedules — school days versus weekends or summers, changing sports seasons, and varying daily routines — all of which can significantly impact glucose levels and require regular adjustments. 

3. Improved collaboration with caregivers that empowers independence 

Fear of hypoglycemia is a common concern for parents of children with diabetes, especially when their child is outside of their direct care. This can make it difficult for families to fully participate in typical childhood activities. 

For older children and teens — particularly those managing more of their care independently — concerns often expand to include persistent hyperglycemia and the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), in addition to hypoglycemia. 

With remote monitoring, parents have the added security knowing their child’s care team is regularly reviewing their child’s data and will reach out if there’s a concern, as well as follow up after treatment changes. This increased collaboration can empower parents to feel more comfortable allowing their child to participate in school, sports, sleepovers, and other activities. In fact, studies have shown that parents welcome the oversight and collaboration that remote monitoring provides when their children are in the care of others.³  

4. Support between appointments that fill gaps in care 

   
   

Typically, children are seen in the office every three months for diabetes visits. During that time, questions, concerns, and glucose fluctuations can easily arise. While some parents will reach out to your office, many will not. 

The regular outreach involved with remote diabetes monitoring helps fill the gap between in‑office appointments. Through routine data reviews and timely phone or video check‑ins, clinicians can provide targeted education and interventions exactly when families need them most. 

5. Quicker device support to avoid bigger problems  

CGMs and insulin pumps have revolutionized diabetes care — but they’re not immune to malfunctions. Whether the CGM stops transmitting data or there is a pump error, remote monitoring can detect issues early, so problems can be nipped in the bud before they become catastrophic. 

With regular data reviews, your team can quickly identify potential device issues. Catching these problems early helps you step in before they affect glucose management, reducing the risk of prolonged high or low blood sugars. This proactive approach not only protects the child’s health, but can also help families avoid unnecessary emergency room visits or hospitalizations. 

6. Greater peace of mind for families all year round 

Lastly, and probably most importantly, remote monitoring can provide an invaluable peace of mind for families managing pediatric diabetes. 

Not only has remote monitoring been linked to greater patient safety and reduced hospitalizations,⁴  but CGM use paired with regular touchpoints has also shown to enhance the quality of life for families, ease their stress and anxiety, and improve overall sleep for parents.⁵ 

The case for remote monitoring pediatric diabetes care 

Implementing remote diabetes monitoring in a pediatric endocrinology clinic increases access to care, can improve clinical outcomes, and enhances patient satisfaction. It also creates opportunities for reimbursement through more billable care events — making it both clinically and financially sustainable.  

SweetSpot can help you bring remote diabetes monitoring to your pediatric patients. To learn more, email us at info@sweetspot.health. 

References: 

1. Alarcon G, Lyons SK, Buckingham D, Erraguntla M, Sonabend R, DeSalvo DJ. ROCKET T1D Remote Patient Monitoring Program: Launching Diabetes Management Habits in New-Onset Diabetes. Clin Diabetes. 2025;43(3):371-377. Published 2025 Feb 11. doi:10.2337/cd24-0065 

2. Hart RI, Kimbell B, Rankin D, et al. Parents' experiences of using remote monitoring technology to manage type 1 diabetes in very young children during a clinical trial: Qualitative study. Diabet Med. 2022;39(7):e14828. doi:10.1111/dme.14828 

3. Tan SY, Sumner J, Wang Y, Wenjun Yip A. A systematic review of the impacts of remote patient monitoring (RPM) interventions on safety, adherence, quality-of-life and cost-related outcomes. NPJ Digit Med. 2024;7(1):192. Published 2024 Jul 18. doi:10.1038/s41746-024-01182-w 

4. Rajan R, Dovbenyuk R, Kshatriya M, et al. The Impact of Virtual Care on Health-Related Quality of Life in Pediatric Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review. Adolesc Health Med Ther. 2025;15:109-117. Published 2025 Feb 21. doi:10.2147/AHMT.S482859 

5. Burckhardt MA, Roberts A, Smith GJ, Abraham MB, Davis EA, Jones TW. The Use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring With Remote Monitoring Improves Psychosocial Measures in Parents of Children With Type 1 Diabetes: A Randomized Crossover Trial. Diabetes Care. 2018;41(12):2641-2643. doi:10.2337/dc18-0938 

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SweetSpot is a remote diabetes management platform that supports all major diabetes devices and insulin delivery systems to provide physicians with a single view of their patients’ data. SweetSpot's intelligent algorithm identifies the most optimal CPT codes for both remote and in-person diabetes management, and a dedicated team of Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialists provide ongoing support.  

As a company founded and powered by physicians and diabetes care providers, we place a strong emphasis on ensuring that there are no obstacles to getting started with SweetSpot. That’s why SweetSpot is easy to set up and designed to seamlessly integrate into your existing workflows and comes with no setup costs or subscription fees.