To find out, dLife®, the nation’s premier online diabetes community resource and hub, and its partner, Vital mHealth, a digital healthcare marketing agency based in Philadelphia, are launching a first-of-its-kind tracking study within a mobile application dedicated to helping people with diabetes manage their condition. Ultimately, the study will help determine the role mobile technology can play in providing self-management tools to people who live with diabetes and other chronic conditions.

The study leverages Vital Insightstm, a proprietary in-app survey tool, which enables real-time insights into user behavior and habits within the mobile environment. Questions will be embedded within dLife’s iPhone application, dLife Diabetes Companion, which provides access to blood glucose tracking tools, nutritional information and recipes, educational videos, and more.

“Vital mHealth’s tool has never been deployed in the diabetes space before,” says Howard Steinberg, dLife’s Founder. “We are looking forward to garnering some unique insights into how mobile technology is impacting the practical day-to-day management of the diabetes consumer and the ultimate role mobile medical management can play.”

Since being offered at no cost earlier this year, the Diabetes Companion has become one of the most popular applications used by people with diabetes. Its active, engaged user base provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand how the use of mobile tools can positively affect health outcomes in real time, real life.

Users will be asked questions during actual app use about how they interact with mobile technology, information-sharing habits, and, ultimately, if and how mobile technology impacts their ability to self-manage, communicate with their healthcare provider, and lower A1C levels. The study will be conducted in three separate waves and updated with new questions every six months. As an ongoing tracking study, it will build benchmarks for the impact of mobile tools in diabetes.

The study comes at a time when use of smartphones to access healthcare information is exploding. A Pew Research study recently found that of the 85 percent of American adults who use a mobile phone today, 17 percent have used their phone as a tool to access health or medical information. With government pressure for electronic health records and mobile technology's rapid expansion, this number is expected to grow as well.


About dLife – It’s YOUR Diabetes Life

dLife is the number-one community network and resource for millions of people with diabetes, their caregivers, and healthcare providers. dLife engages this growing population in positive and proactive self-care across a variety of media channels. Its award-winning outlets include dLife.com, the leading online diabetes destination, attracting over one million unique visitors each month and featuring the widest and deepest variety of original content and resources anywhere; dLifeTV, the only national TV series dedicated to people with diabetes, with over half a million viewers, airing every Sunday on CNBC (7 p.m. ET); popular mobile applications; as well as other consumer and professional programs driving proactive diabetes self-management.

dLife Healthcare Solutions applies evidence-based content and technology solutions built specifically for health plans and healthcare providers who want to engage their diabetes populations as consumers of their own healthcare and owners of their own condition. dLife has demonstrated positive and direct impact on health outcomes via a recently completed randomized trial performed by the Geisinger Healthcare System.

Join dLife on Facebook or follow dLife on Twitter. Watch us on YouTube.

About Vital mHealth

Vital mHealth is among the few digital agencies in the country with a specific expertise in mobile strategy and tactics. For more information about the company, its leadership, and experience, please visit www.vitalmhealth.com or contact Karen Warth, president and co-founder, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .