Diabetics Doing Medtronic Diabetes with Chief Patient Officer Louis Dias

[00:00:07] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. We've been telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics all across the world since 2015, and we have over a thousand years of living with T1D on the podcast. The interviews range from incredible feats to everyday victories, and we celebrate them all just the same. Thanks for listening, and if you want to get involved even further, just send me an email at rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com. Welcome everyone, this is a very special episode of Diabetics Doing Things. I actually got to go out to Los Angeles, California on the campus of Medtronic Diabetes and interview Chief Patient Officer Luis Diaz. so what you're about to hear is Lewis and I one on one in his office in Los Angeles and I think you're going to be really surprised at all of the things that we don't see as type ones that are going on behind the scenes at companies like Medtronic and all the feedback that they hear and see out there in social media especially that goes into their product development and all the things that they're doing for us and building so sit back relax and enjoy this very special episode with Lewis Diaz Hello and welcome back to another episode of Diabetics Doing Things. We've got a very special episode today. We're sitting on the campus of Medtronic Diabetes. So we're here in Northridge, California, and my very special guest today is Chief Patient Officer Louis Diaz. Louis, first of all, thank you for taking the time. I know you're a busy guy, but I really appreciate you having us out here and making yourself available.

[00:01:51] Louis Dias: Yeah, good morning to everyone. Welcome.

[00:01:52] Rob Howe: Yeah, it's great to have you. And I think we're going to have a good session.

[00:01:57] Louis Dias: Yeah, I think so.

[00:01:58] Rob Howe: You know, this is one of the rare versions of my podcast where I'm actually in the room with the person that I interview. Most of my conversations take place via Skype. And then also I have a little bit of an audience here. So we've got some of our great Medtronic supporters and team members here as well. So why don't you go ahead and give us a little bit of background on who you are and your roles as a chief patient officer. because as I understand it, that's a very different role for a company like Medtronic. So why don't you tell us about your role and why it's so different and what you do on a daily basis?

[00:02:34] Louis Dias: Absolutely, absolutely. So Chief Patient Officer. So that's kind of a new title. It's a new title for Medtronic. I think it's a new title for the whole industry. I don't think there's a lot of health care or other companies that have such a role. The role means a lot of things. You know, it starts with being here to support and advocate for patients. But I think within Medtronic Diabetes, it takes a new meaning. Medtronic Diabetes is a great company when it comes to clinical studies, innovation, great customer support. But I think the chief patient officer goes above and beyond all of that to ensure that we are listening to our patients. and not just assuming what they want, what they need, but that we put patients at the center of everything we do. And so we've started to use the concept of patient-centered design, which means our ability to listen very carefully, very seriously, and then to translate what we listen, the patient's needs, concerns, dreams, aspirations, and translate that into great new design of products and design of services. So in essence, it's all about listening, but it's also about then turning the listening into action and into greater design of products and services. A specific example, if I may bring to bear, is a lot of the patients are using our new MiniMed 670G system. A key, very small, simple element of design there is the blue shield. So we've got a great algorithm, a great system of sort of automatically adjusting insulin delivery. But we also have created this blue shield, which is essentially a symbol that we are taking care of the patient, we're taking care of you, and therefore we're communicating a lot of trust. So I hope that will bring a lot more examples of listening and then designing to meet our patients' needs and concerns.

[00:04:52] Rob Howe: And I think that's super interesting and obviously very modern way of thinking. And I think now, especially in the age of new media, social media, and Internet communications, that conversation used to be just one way, right? And obviously you've been in the industry for a while. How has, and this is sort of, you know, I don't want to put you on the spot, how has that, the new medium conversations, shaped what you guys do, both from a listening perspective as well as just sort of understanding what people are going through?

[00:05:25] Louis Dias: Yeah, I mean, we love it. I think as Medtronic Diabetes has been one of one of the first companies, especially in healthcare, to kind of embrace listening to the patients, having a conversation with the patients. So we love all of Facebook. We were just talking about, you know, about a year ago when we started doing Facebook Live kind of conversations with patients. We love Instagram. We love Twitter. And it's really important. I think it gets us to not just the needs and the concerns of the patients, but it gets us to the emotions, what people are really feeling. And I think that's an important part of us listening. Sometimes a lot of what patients say is not pleasant to our ears, and sometimes it's even fair. But it's really important that we listen to all of the positives, to all of the concerns, and sometimes to some valid comments. And that helps us change the company. I can only tell you that comments are being heard, comments are being discussed in the company at all levels. We have lots of conversations with patients in the company. We have lots of conversations within our leadership team about what the patients are saying, and our decisions are being informed by what the patients are saying. Our project, our innovation is being driven by what the patients are saying. So it's a great way to hear patients' voices through the new digital social media.

[00:07:09] Rob Howe: That's very cool. It's good to know that there's a company out there that is so close to many of us, obviously, in the type 1 community is listening to those stories and those comments, even the ones that, like I think you said, are sometimes unfair. I think we realize that sometimes too.

[00:07:26] Louis Dias: Well, you know, being fair or unfair is a matter of perspective. And I think what being in Instagram and Facebook, what it allows us is to, you know, to tell our story. And, you know, sometimes people understand and sympathize with that story. Sometimes, you know, there's a lot of other perspectives, and that's all good. But as long as there is a conversation, and that's what we're all about, is having a sincere, honest conversation with all the patients. And we hope that, you know, we're probably, as a diabetes company, as a health care company, one of those companies that are most engaged in listening and talking to patients.

[00:08:08] Rob Howe: I think that is, you know, at the core, you know, what you bring to the organization. How is that unique in the, you know, medical device industry, health care? Other companies don't have this position, right?

[00:08:22] Louis Dias: Yeah.

[00:08:22] Rob Howe: How are you guys driving that innovation and leading?

[00:08:25] Louis Dias: Yeah. So, I mean, most healthcare companies have a great chief medical officer. And we have a wonderful one, and a lot of people know Dr. Kaufman, and she's absolutely fantastic. But I think what we've realized is that the conversation now is not just a conversation about medical issues or a conversation just with doctors and nurses. It's a conversation that needs to involve and engage the patient. And the patient voice is becoming stronger, more powerful. Companies need to listen to it. Doctors need to listen to it. Insurance companies need to listen to it. Hospitals need to listen to it. And I think I see my role as kind of helping to foster that communication and bringing the voices of all to play. And the voice of the patient is more critical than ever. Patients are extremely well-educated. They're extremely knowledgeable. And so the role of, for instance, the doctors and the patients is now one of collaboration. Doctors actually want to know what do the patients want. And they take that very much into consideration. And so do companies. And so my role is to make sure that the patient's voices are being heard. I mean, it's a simple, from a business point of view, it's very simple. You listen to what the patients want, and you meet their expectations. You know, you meet their expectations as often as you can. You know, the company works very hard to do exactly that. I think I've been amazed by the commitment, the passion of, you know, Medtronic employees. A lot of them also have experienced diabetes in their lives and their families. And so they've got a lot of passion, and so serving our patients is a little bit of a tradition at Medtronic.

[00:10:16] Rob Howe: It's interesting you talk about passion. I was in a meeting earlier with another group, and they brought up that same point. And I think you mentioned just now that there's some sort of tie to diabetes, whether it's an individual or a family member or someone. Is that passion part of the culture that really drives everybody here at Medtronic? How does that, I like this idea of people really going to battle that we don't see in the community, right, behind the scenes really working hard, and maybe sometimes even just butting heads with each other. I like that idea of just really working hard for patients.

[00:10:53] Louis Dias: Yes, I mean, absolutely, and I hope that we will show that more and more. I think Medtronic as a company, if you go back to the mission, and if you read the mission, you know, it's very much about the patients and putting the patients at the center, you know, about saving lives. So as a tradition, you know, every December to celebrate the holidays, we've got an incredible employee spectacle show in which all of the business units bring in patients that talk about their experiences with Medtronic and how their lives have been changed. And so that carries very much into Medtronic Diabetes. So we host, very often we host patients that come and share their stories, and we've got a big auditorium, and we've got people across the company that are continuously listening to what the patients say. But very much in Medtronic Diabetes is, you know, it's a lot of fun. You know, we've got so many people that have a patient, that have someone in their family that have experienced diabetes. So that's very close to a lot of the discussion. So when we're thinking about the new product and when we're thinking about, you know, something we're going to say, we're always informed, if not by the patient community at large, at minimum by a lot of the patient employees that serve with us. I mean, I've got to mention Naomi. Naomi is, you know, works in, you know, in the social area. You know, she answers a lot of the patients' comments, and she's always communicating. This is what we listen from the community. This is what I'm experiencing with the product. You know, we have to do better. This is working great. So we're always informed by Naomi and a lot others. A lot of the diabetes educators, clinicians, a lot of the managers out in the field that interact directly with the patients, that serve the patients very much, quite a lot of them have diabetes. So there's a really personal relationship. And so it's great spirit. Like you said, there's great conversations going on on what's needed to serve the patients.

[00:13:14] Rob Howe: And you mentioned Naomi, who's on the social team. I think it was my first interaction with Medtronic on Instagram. And she's a type 1. I actually talked to her yesterday. She and I are from literally the same part of Texas. She's from the town next to mine, five minutes away, which I thought was just super small world. You talked about her story and living with T1D. What are some of your other favorite stories that come to mind that you hear either from the community, from patients, from people here in the office? at least in your time in this role, you know, how is that, what really comes to mind?

[00:13:52] Louis Dias: Yeah, yeah. And so Naomi has, you know, has a great story. You know, she's a petite person with a very powerful, very passionate voice, and we listen to her very closely. She says things with a laugh but with a degree of seriousness that has a lot of credibility all the way up to, you know, to our president. Let me start by saying and sharing that, you know, one of my favorite stories is my story trying to actually use a pump and use a sensor. And it wasn't a very pretty picture. And I'm not sure that I can relate, you know, to having diabetes. I can relate a little bit that for a few days I actually had to wear a pump. I had to pay attention to the sensor. readings, I had to try to deal with all of the alarms, and it was overwhelming. And that's not taking into account, you know, what's my glucose, and am I safe to go asleep at night? So, but I felt very much just the overwhelming, just concern about what's going on, what buttons to push, and all that stuff.

[00:15:06] Rob Howe: I want to stop you for a second. First of all, that's really cool. and I first of all I applaud you for doing that and I think really putting yourself in the patient's shoes which I think is super important you knew a lot about people living with type 1 and using your products what's the difference between just hearing about it and knowing what the products do and then stepping into it and actually having to make them work at least in placebo

[00:15:32] Louis Dias: I mean we hear so many positive stories so many people being thankful for our products, other companies' products, just for the therapy and the service that goes out there. So we constantly have these great, inspiring stories. You know, then actually being, you know, sitting and using the devices and just having to deal with it all is kind of a different experience. And just, I cannot necessarily relate to all of the emotional sort of burden that goes along with it, but I can relate to some of the practical things. So when I was using the device, I mean, I remember sincerely, it's very clear to me, you know, 8 o'clock on a Tuesday morning, this is my second day in LA. I have the pump for less than 24 hours. I'm driving to work, 4.05, joining with the I-10. There's a lot of cars. Alarm goes off. I take my eyes off of the alarm and you know things let's say slow down as they do in LA and I did bump the car in front of in front so nothing catastrophic you know everybody's safe you know just a little a little bump touch but but my gosh this is something I wasn't taking into account so so so I'm for instance I'm very sensitized to to driving you know are are people when they get into a car are they ready to go on a journey? You know, are they safe? What is the sound and the alarm? You know, how can we communicate sort of from an audio point of view so that you're not alerted with a big sort of beep that just kind of throws you off? So I've talked to a lot of our, you know, our scientists and engineers and our designers on how do we communicate in a manner that's less intrusive, that, you know, maybe we connect with the car systems. Cars are now becoming more and more sophisticated and evolved. So it's not just your watch or your phone. It's everything that's around us. So very challenging dealing with the devices. I'm sure it's a lot more challenging dealing with diabetes. But I love all of the stories. I love all of the stories. I love primarily, to tell you the truth, I love the people. people do a lot of things with diabetes but I love just the character of the people they're usually extremely positive, energetic just extremely well organized as you try to keep track of lots of things just a tremendous amount of energy so I'm always learning and I think we're all inspired by not just what the people do, but who the people are as persons.

[00:18:31] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think when you humanize it a little bit too, everybody's so different, but also we have those little things. I talk to people all the time, other type ones, when you meet each other in the wild, as it were, you see a pump tube or you see a CGM or you see a finger prick. You sort of just bypass all the normal like, hey, hi, how are you type conversations that you have with a normal stranger. And you just be like, hey, I have one too. And I think when you hear those stories, whether even through a brand like Medtronic and other companies, like, oh, there's somebody else out there like me. And that's a big part of what we do on the podcast is just telling the stories of other people with the understanding that somewhere, someone out there has probably just been diagnosed with type 1 who does something similar to this person. And they may need to hear the message right now. It's always very inspiring. You mentioned the potential and the idea of integrating your support system diabetes products into your car, which I think is super cool. I need a Tesla that checks my bloodshed. ASAP. So I'm going to hold you guys to that, obviously. But I think this is the best time to live with type 1 if there ever really was such a thing. And I say that and I talk to other people who believe that, too. What are you most excited about? What kind of gets you, what are you hopeful for in the next, you know, six months, one year, two years? I know obviously 670 sort of coming in and inundating the market more in the next short while is a huge part of that. But what comes to mind when you think of, you know, the next steps in this journey?

[00:20:13] Louis Dias: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, diabetes, unfortunately, is the kind of condition that everyone, lots of companies are trying to help, are either, you know, already involved, tremendous amount of research. We're doing, you know, we're doing our bit. We're doing, you know, MiniMed 670G is, you know, is a step forward in lots of aspects. We're also very keen to extend a lot of the benefits of new therapies, not only to type 1 patients but also to type 2 patients. So the ability for, for instance, a type 2 patient to go into the doctor, a primary care physician, and just be diagnosed. We've got a sensor, a continuous glucose sensor called iPro2, that helps patients being diagnosed and helps them manage therapy. So I think that's the ability to have access to those type of devices, continuous glucose sensors in a variety of doctors, is tremendous. We're going to continue to push forward, you know, MiniMed 670G, and then what comes next. So we're all excited about that. And I think the industry as a whole, and I think Medtronic is smack at the center of it, is extremely interested in bringing not only the therapy, but all these new technologies that are becoming available, right? Just the integration with your smartphone. The ability to then translate all of the data into meaningful insights. One of the things that I believe that Medtronic Diabetes is extremely innovative has been in its partnership with IBM. You see some of the IBM advertisements about Watson and making sense of data and analyzing data so that before you even know it, there's a conversation and you're being alerted to, hey, last Tuesday you ate this sandwich. And, you know, it's Tuesday again, and you might be eating a similar sandwich, and this is what happened to you. So just kind of this conversation through data, through these more sophisticated analytical systems, it's also coming into the industry. And I think that as a whole, we're going to be able to surround the patient with not only just a great MiniMet 670G pump, a great continuous glucose system, but all of this other data and advice and conversations. And, you know, we hope to make it available to all the patients. You know, I was joking about driving a car, but one of the inspirational stories that I had a chance to share, to be part of, is, you know, Kate, one of our patients, is actually a motorbike rider. You know, she's gone from, you know, Florida to Alaska, you know. So, you know, the conversation with Kate is like, what are you doing for me? I'm on a bicycle for 12 hours a day. I love to go on these long trips, so how do I know what's going on without necessarily having to stop? So how we surround people with all of the new technology at all these different places is something that we are striving. And to do it both for type 1 as well as type 2 patients.

[00:23:58] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think looking at it holistically, not just the device, not just the day-to-day, but if someone wanted to take a 12-hour a day, six-week bike ride. I've talked to some people who ride bikes on bicycles for four weeks at a time across Japan or something. It takes time to pull over, stop, check your blood sugar, and then keep moving. How do we respond to those situations and really look at it from a lifestyle perspective? So it's very cool. I think when you think about holistically, and I think in marketing at least, we talk about the word global. You look at those things. I think from a global standpoint of diabetes care and research, talk about some of the global programs that Medtronic is spearheading to help people gain access, to help create awareness. I know there's a lot of other global advocacy pieces, but talk about Medtronic's role in some of that.

[00:24:59] Louis Dias: Yeah, I mean, I think as a company that's a big priority for us to be a truly global company. I think sometimes we forget how privileged we are. I mean, the U.S. is really the exception. Our standard of living, our standard of care, our health care system, you know, MiniMed 670G, you know, introduced first in the U.S. So we're blessed with, in lots of cases, having great care for diabetes. You contrast that with Mexico, even just a close neighbor, or India, or China. You know, China, you're essentially experiencing a pump when you're at a dramatic event and you're at the hospital. and that's when you get a pump, you know. And so the level of care just varies all over the place. So we're very cognizant on how do we make things more accessible, more affordable. It starts with the doctors also, you know, programs to educate doctors. Surprisingly enough, there's not a lot of endocrinologists in the U.S. and even much less outside. outside. So just providing programs where we can educate and partner with doctors and hospitals is the first step. Then making the therapy accessible and affordable is a key next step. So one of the things that we're trying to do is provide either direct financial assistance or provide different financial programs that allow patients to afford to be in the therapy. Specifically in Mexico, we've got a program called Diabetes Sin Limites, which means diabetes without limits, and it's essentially a pump rental program that allows people to share in the cost but not to be overwhelmed by the cost. And in the U.S. we've got similar programs. We've used trial programs, free trial programs, where you can try the pump system for free and then figure out if that's for you or not. And I'm sure that will evolve into a lot of these other programs that we've tried in Mexico, you know, in China, in India, that will also bring some of those programs to the U.S.

[00:27:38] Rob Howe: we talked a lot about um about 670 um just just briefly um and i i want us to dig in a little bit because it's uh obviously a hot topic right now especially you know when you guys are talking about the you're reading the social media comments and listening to what people are saying um you know and it's been called everything from the closed loop system to the artificial pancreas and people are there's been click-baity articles out there about what it does and everything um Why is it so revolutionary and what is the feedback you've gotten from the test group? I met one of the test group ambassadors yesterday and kind of got some first-hand feedback as well which is really helpful. But what are you hearing?

[00:28:18] Louis Dias: Yeah, I mean, I'm telling you that Medtronic Diabetes and all its employees are extremely proud of MiniMed 670G. But I can also tell you that the whole of Medtronic, all 80,000, 90,000 employees are just transfixed, just so proud of what's being done, all the way from Omar Ishrak, our president, to Omar Ishrak, our Medtronic CEO. They've just – everybody has had a hand in helping work with the FDA, work with a lot of other organizations, and bringing, you know, a mini-med 670G system into the marketplace. So we see it really as a milestone in how to treat diabetes. So we've had lots of great feedback. it does take some time to kind of learn a system because if you've been taking care of your diabetes and being very precise and very controlling and you have a certain way of doing things, we are actually asking you two things. One is to learn a new system and the second thing is for you to be patient. And that takes some time to kind of adjust. Because what the system essentially wants to do is to say, we've got you, we're taking control, and we're automatically taking care of your basal delivery. You clearly still have to do a lot of your bolusing. But we are taking care of your basal delivery. And so that requires a little bit of patience and learning and trust that the system is now taking care of you. It requires also working with your doctor and your nurse to adjust the system a little bit. And so it takes a week, two weeks, maybe even some patients. It might take a little longer than that. But what we hear at the end of it is, oh, my goodness, this is impressive, this is exciting. And what that gets translated is patients and families, really, talking about, I can go to sleep at night. I'm less anxious. Just a constant anxiety and burden of what's going to happen next. I've got to do this in another hour or two hours. You're now starting to feel a lot more relaxed. So the fatigue of diabetes, the constant diabetes thinking is now sort of being lifted, not completely, but significantly lifted. So you're not as physically tired. You're not as emotionally tired. So, hey, it works great for a lot of people. I'm sure that some patients may or may not work. You also have to realize that the MiniMed 670G system is really almost like a two-in-one system. So you can work in the auto mode system, but you can also default into the suspend before low algorithm, which in and of itself a lot of patients are bragging about. And the suspend before low algorithm system in and of itself is a tremendous advancement versus anything else in the marketplace. So I've had, you know, Joel has been thrilled. Joel is one of our, you know, patients that we recently had in Northridge to talk about his experience. You know, he was thrilled with the suspend before low. But we've had patients like, you know, Nikita or Nikki that have been absolutely thrilled with, you know, the hybrid closed-loop system. I know a lot of people love to talk about it's the artificial pancreas. It's the perfect system. It does everything for everyone. let's not have a promise here, let's manage expectations. It is a hybrid closed-loop system, meaning that there's a conversation between the patient and the system. The patient does certain things, the system does other things, and they kind of go back and forth between each other. That's the idea of kind of an hybrid alternation between the patient and the system. One final thought, Rob, is when we talk about the MiniMed 670G system, everybody kind of gets, you know, looks at the pump, you know, gets excited by the smart guard automated sort of kind of feature. But the one thing that most people are surprised about is the Guardian sensor 3 continuous glucose monitor. We've had a history with sensors. This is really the next generation and a lot of people are like, wow, you know, the benefits of having a continuous glucose monitor, that's tremendous. The ability of that continuous glucose monitor to be so reliable and to now communicate with the algorithm, with the smart guard technology that tells the pump what to do, you know, that's been one of the biggest wows also for a lot of patients.

[00:33:46] Rob Howe: It's very cool. I think some of the feedback that I've seen from non-test group folks is just how accurate the sensor is, taking some of that mental strain off of just every day. Because as many chronic illnesses are, the roadmap and customer life cycle, patient life cycle, of a Medtronic customer with diabetes is their whole life. And I think as I even look at it, I'm in year 13 of my diabetes life cycle. I'm now almost year 9 of my Medtronic, and I'm just scratching the surface, which is weird because sometimes I feel super worn out. But even yesterday, meeting people with 37 years of Type 1, 25 years of Type 1, and just being around other people who are, after that amount of time, and all the changes that they've seen, even the changes that I've seen in 13 years have been tremendous, the changes that they've seen in almost half a century. looking forward, I really am excited about where we're headed and the things that are coming up and things like more things that are as impactful and as innovative as 670. The hybrid system. Not artificial thinkers. In that same patient life cycle patient life cycle as you look forward to you know you got 50 where I'm at 13 years you get with 50 years you know 100 years I'm planning on going I'm going to make it to 116 absolutely type 1 what's it like to know that you know at the end of the day Medtronic serves millions of patients with type 1 and what is you know

[00:35:30] Louis Dias: getting you up to go to work every day and knowing that you're a big part of that yeah yeah I mean I Yeah, it's a global company. We've got patients all over the world, so it's a big responsibility. I think all of us just are very aware that this is a condition that's taking place every day. it's a condition that's life or death and that our products our therapy needs to be needs to have the highest quality our customer service needs to be there 24 24 7 so it's it's it's a lot of it's a big it's a big responsibility one of the things that that is really important that I love about you know the the the type 1 community is really the sense of community, is that everybody's there for each other. You know, I love, you know, your description about, you know, you don't really need to know a type 1 patient. You just can go up and just say, and there's a lot of stuff that's common and that's shared. I love that about the community. It's a very generous, it's a very engaging, It's a very caring community. I don't think there's many other conditions where people are so engaged. It is interesting that as a community, the type 1 community, I'd kind of say that I'd love for the type 1 community to help the type 2 community a little bit because we don't see the level of engagement, the level of knowledge, the level of concern. I think type 2 patients are still kind of learning how to face into their condition, how to ask for help. And so I love the type 1 community. And I hope that we as a company, in partnership with other organizations, can help this conversation between the two communities. Because while we have the type 1 being so advanced, so engaged, so passionate, so vocal, I'd love to see the same thing for the type 2 community. And I'd love for us to take that, you know, around the world. Patients are very different around the world, so we're very aware of that. You know, the old days of developing something in the U.S. and then just throwing it over the fence to good luck to you guys in India and China. Those days are gone. We actually are developing, you know, we've got a unique pump, for instance, for Japan. And we'll do the same thing for a lot of our products. One final thought that in your question, Rob, I thought it was really interesting, is as a company, as a condition, you know, type 1 diabetes, we're always very concerned with our younger patients, right? I mean, a lot of folks are diagnosed, you know, 4, 5, 6, even 2 years old, you know, all the way. So we're very concerned in terms of what we're doing for a lot of our younger patients. The patients that we also need to pay a lot more attention is kind of our older patients. I mean, again, I love that, you know, you're going to be with us for another 100 years, and we hope to be there for you. I think we just need to pay a lot more attention to our older patients. You know, technology might sometimes be new to them. Being older, there's a lot of other pains. There's a lot of other conditions that come to bear. You don't move as fast. You don't think as fast. You don't hear as clearly. Your eyesight is not what it used to be. So one of the initiatives that we're very concerned is how do we also support our older patients. And so, again, I hope in the future that you'll see us listening and then translating this into design elements. Our pump screen needs to be bigger. Our letters need to be bigger. The visual contrast needs to be bigger. The sounds need to be louder. all of those things were, you know, we've gotten great patient feedback that we need all of those to be better.

[00:39:48] Rob Howe: That's interesting. I think talking to some people who, you know, lived with and even struggled with, of course struggled with, like we all do at times, with both the relationship with their diabetes as well as with their actual, you know, treatment of diabetes. But, and now kind of coming around and seeing these things that, you know, after a long time people have sort of lost hope. I think a lot of the, you know, there's a lot of cure talk, especially a diagnosis, and that rhetoric is important. And I think I do believe that we're on the right track to that, and that that will happen within probably my lifetime of 100 years. I'm going to give you guys a hint. Everybody's working on a cure plenty of time. But when they come around and they come back and they reengage and they kind of, and I think talking to some of your teams, you guys are looking at ways to engage those people as they go through those different emotions. when they come back around they see oh there is a continuous glucose monitor closed loop hyper closed loop system that I can I never dreamed that that would actually happen yeah I think that encouragement of that is the emotional reward with that I think it helps a lot of people too who may have you know for years just soured on that type of relationship it's cool to see and also you know encouraging like I said for somebody who has gone from glass needles when they were a child to now they don't even have to inject a needle anymore, which is just the emotional effects of doing that at a time. I think they're super positive.

[00:41:14] Louis Dias: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we have a little museum of history in our building and just right by the entrance, and it's fascinating to see what happened back in 1920 when insulin first was produced, you know, discovered and produced commercially to what's happening today.

[00:41:41] Rob Howe: Well, and I think it's crazy. Like, that was not even 100 years ago.

[00:41:45] Louis Dias: Yes.

[00:41:46] Rob Howe: And, you know, thinking about that, I interviewed a person on the podcast whose grandfather and her father were type 1. And they're all still alive, and they all talk to each other today. So it was a very cool thing for me here because I'd never talked to anyone like that. And just to think that 100 years ago, we had all this great sort of industrial revolution in the United States, but people were still dying of type 1 diabetes with no treatment. And now we have all these great treatments, and there's so much more awareness. And I think part of the reason that more people are being diagnosed every year is just that we have more resources, and we've got better treatment. And it's very cool.

[00:42:27] Louis Dias: Yeah, it's absolutely amazing. I love to go to the museum, but I love more than ever the fact that what's coming next is even better, and hopefully patients are not fearing for their lives.

[00:42:44] Rob Howe: You're just making me smile and think about just kind of looking into the future. A week and a half ago, I was in New York talking to a pediatric endocrinologist at Stony Brook, and she was sharing some great stories, but one of the stories was about this family, three just wonderful little girls and twins and then a slightly older one. But within a year, all three of them were progressively diagnosed with diabetes. And I just, I was like, I was, you know, I was literally in tears that I can't imagine just the parents and the first child kind of going through the shock of it. And I could see, you know, the other sisters sort of, you know, supporting and just the first child. And then just within months, all of them just were diagnosed with diabetes.

[00:43:51] Louis Dias: So this is the kind of story that for me and I think for a lot of our employees just kind of drives us to just how can we make it better to them, for them. And, you know, this is the Medtronic, you know, just tradition and inspiration that we keep these stories very close and dear to our hearts because we hope to make a difference. And that's what ultimately just helps us. It's a lot of hard work, but that's the reward. And my hope here is to hope that we can help those three girls.

[00:44:29] Rob Howe: Yeah, it's something that I often have to step back and think about is the parents, the unsung heroes, the type 3s, as some people call them, and just the tremendous weight that they carry for all of us. I've got to where I am with my diabetes because of my parents, for sure, and their health support, my brother and sister as well. Thinking about the immediate future, so November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.

[00:44:55] Louis Dias: Yes.

[00:44:57] Rob Howe: What are you guys, you know, what are you excited about? What's going on here at Medtronic? What do you guys got planned? Give us a little preview.

[00:45:04] Louis Dias: So it's kind of a big tradition at Medtronic Diabetes for us to do a lot of fundraising. You know, it's a special month, and it's a special month for us to, you know, to create awareness with our friends and family. But it's a special also month for the employees. So, you know, just this week we're getting our fundraising campaign. So we're asking, we're partnering with JDRF and ADA, and we've got, you know, we're kind of asking our employees to, you know, just to donate. But we're also involved in a lot of other fundraising efforts. We have a lot of our companies that we partner with. We also have, last week we had a special week in which we bring all those companies that we work with, our suppliers, our partners, our vendors, and again we do a lot of fundraising with them. We make sure that they also share in this culture of listening to the patients. So we had a patient and a mother and some of our kids kind of visiting us from Chicago and kind of sharing some stories with our vendors so that everyone knows what we're here for. And then ultimately we've got a lot of the walks. You know, L.A. is a big place for both ADA and JDRF. So a lot of our employees, again, volunteer to talk to the patients at these walks, to go out and wear the diabetes medtronic shirt and just to be very visible in the community. So it's kind of a fun time to tell you the truth. Thanksgiving is also a fun little tradition that we have in the company that we engage with, being fully aware of all of the threats and treats that Thanksgiving comes along. So it's a really unique combination, those two coming together. But it's actually, to tell you the truth, it's probably the most special month of the year for all of us is November. So we're thrilled to help out any way we can.

[00:47:22] Rob Howe: Very cool. So, Lewis, I ask this question on all of my podcasts to all of my guests. And context is important, but I will tell you that there are two types of people who answer the question. One, they take the context in and they answer it and they follow it. And two, they're just like, no, I'm rejecting your context, I'm going to answer it the way I want. So you have full license to go either way. So the question is, and the context is, you're in an airport, and they're about to close the gate. So you're at your gate, they're about to close the door, and you can't miss this flight. Whatever's on the other end is very important, whatever that is. So you have about 30 seconds, and you run into somebody who has either recently been diagnosed or struggling with their type 1 diabetes. What's the one thing that you tell that person?

[00:48:08] Louis Dias: What a great question. What a great context here. Well, I guess it's a great opportunity to engage with a new patient. So I probably would take more than the 30 seconds, and I might miss the flight. I know that there's going to be another flight a few hours later.

[00:48:29] Rob Howe: You're a context breaker. You're a context breaker.

[00:48:30] Louis Dias: earlier. But I think, and I would miss the flight because I think that first and foremost, it would take some time to really listen and understand what that person is going through. So where are they in their journey? Are they still going through the, I can't believe this has happened to me? Or are they in the stage of, you know, I've tried a lot of things and I'm just not doing so well. You know, I need some help. Do you have some ideas? So I think I would take some really careful time to listen to where they are emotionally, to where they are from a therapy need. Are they exploring options? Is a pump and a sensor system the right place for they to start, or might they be better with some alternative therapy? Not all patients are ready. We'd like to think that, you know, for instance, MiniMed 670G system is a great option, but people are in different stages of their journey. So I just think spending a lot of time talking to them and listening to them and understanding where they are, and then at minimum, plugging them in to the community. I mean, again, I'd love for Medtronic to be one of the pieces of the puzzle, and I think there's lots of great Medtronic communities, MiniMed communities, 670 communities, our Facebook, Instagram, lots of great tips. But the diabetes type 1 community just kind of self-organizes and there's just a really good vibe and there's lots of people that have lots of great things to say, whether that's to support this person or whether that's provide some advice. So, you know, and ultimately it's also about the conversation with, you know, the doctors and the nurses and your diabetes educator and everyone else that you can get your hands on. You know, I think that's an important piece of advice. Just reach out, open up to everyone.

[00:50:35] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think we talked about it a little bit during this conversation, but the type 1 community is really a diamond in the rough. It's very unique, especially in the social media world where so much can be negative. It's really an amazing, amazing sort of case study on the power of a group of people who are like-minded and want to help each other. Lewis, thank you so much for taking the time. What a great interview to kind of look behind the scenes of everything we're doing here at Medtronic. Man, for all of the listeners out there, following Medtronic on Facebook and Instagram at Medtronic Diabetes, you can keep up with all of the you mentioned tips but also things that are happening here, things that you guys are doing and people you guys are meeting with, always very exciting so thank you again for taking the time, I really appreciate it

[00:51:23] Louis Dias: yeah thank you, thanks Rob, thanks everyone that you're listening I hope that we can also listen to all your comments so the door is open through Facebook through Instagram through a direct call I'm sure Rob you can you can share a lot of the ideas that a lot of the folks are sharing with you. So just, again, thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it.