Turn to US MED® for your diabetes insulin pump supplies, where our customer support specialists are ready to discuss your insulin pump options and help you better manage your diabetes. We bill your insurance or Medicare directly and handle the document collection. We also send you convenient reminders when it’s time to reorder, so you never have to worry about running out of supplies.
What is an insulin pump?
An insulin pump is a miniature, computer-powered device used to deliver insulin doses on a predetermined schedule. “Traditional” insulin pumps are roughly the size of a cell phone and can be worn on your belt, in your pocket, or in other ways.
What does an insulin pump do?
Are you wondering, “how an insulin pump works?” While wearing an insulin pump, you’ll get small doses of insulin on a regular schedule (AKA “basal dose”) and larger doses close to mealtimes (AKA “bolus dose”). Bolus doses are calculated based on your blood glucose levels, food intake, and each individual’s pump settings. . Some insulin pumps can also use data from a continuous glucose monitor to adjust your basal insulin doses.
Types of insulin pumps
There are two primary types of insulin pumps on the market today. Read on for a comparison of traditional insulin pumps vs insulin patch pumps:
Traditional insulin pumps
In a traditional insulin pump, your insulin is stored in a cartridge inside the pump itself. The cartridge connects to an infusion set. The infusion set gets inserted under the skin in the subcutaneous fat. A needle housed inside a cannula, is necessary to puncture the skin to insert the set. The cannula is a tiny plastic tube through where the insulin travels to reach the body. .
Insulin patch pumps
Patch pumps are also referred to as “tubeless insulin pumps,” but they still have cannulas. The difference is the cannula and the insulin chamber are both contained in a single pod, which you wear directly on your skin.
Why are insulin pumps used?
If you have diabetes, this means you either don’t make any insulin or enough to meet your body’s needs. . Insulin plays a crucial role in blood sugar regulation, so many people with diabetes rely on insulin injections as part of their treatment regimen.
While “standard” insulin injections are effective on their own, insulin pumps can simplify the insulin delivery process and make this element of diabetes management more convenient. If you have a hard time following your insulin delivery schedule, these devices can make life much easier for you.
Who should use an insulin pump?
People with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes can use an insulin pump. Consider using an insulin pump if you:
- Require multiple daily injections
- Have diabetes and plan to become pregnant
- Are severely affected by low blood glucose levels
- Wish to pause insulin delivery during exercise
- Deal with delayed food absorption
Insulin pump brands
US MED® is proud to offer the world’s best insulin pump brands, including Tandem insulin pumps. The Tandem Tslim X2 pump is one of the most well-known and trusted lines of traditional insulin pumps available. If you’re looking for a familiar form factor in your next insulin pump, look no further.
Still, you might be interested in making the switch to a patch pump. In that case, your best bet would be to order an Omnipod insulin pump. Created by Insulet, Omnipod is the leading name in patch pumps. As a US MED® customer, you’ll be able to order an Omnipod Eros, Omnipod DASH, or Omnipod 5.
Both the Tandem Tslim X2 pump and the Omnipod 5 can communicate with the Dexcom G6 cgm to create a closed loop system which is the best technology that pump users can access! How much does an insulin pump cost?
Your insulin pump could cost about $6,000 upfront if you don’t have insurance. But that’s not the only expense you’ll need to consider - the supplies needed to use these devices could cost you another $3,000-$6,000 per year. That’s not including the cost of insulin, either.
Are insulin pumps covered by Medicare?
If you have a medical need for an insulin pump, Medicare Part B will cover your device as durable medical equipment. The same will be true for the insulin delivered through your pump. That said, depending on where you live, you may need to go through specific suppliers for Medicare coverage to apply.
What are the benefits of insulin pump therapy?
These days, insulin pumps are growing in popularity because of the many perks they offer. While using an insulin pump, you are likely to enjoy:
- Improvements in blood glucose control
- More flexible, consistent, and private insulin delivery
- Many times avoiding painful injections
- Using less insulin than with multiple daily injections
Frequently Asked Questions
Injections of insulin are used to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Insulin can assist in keeping your blood glucose levels in a good range - combined with regular blood glucose testing and lifestyle changes, insulin can help you stay healthy while living with diabetes.
There are a number of sites on the body where insulin can be injected. These include the abdomen (2 inches away from the belly button), the upper outer arms, the buttocks, and the top outer thighs. Generally speaking, the abdomen is considered the best site for insulin injection.
When injecting insulin, you should inject it into the layer of fat right under your skin. If it is injected into muscle, the injection can be more painful and could result in lower levels of blood glucose.
To inject insulin, you’ll need to fill your syringe with the correct variety and dose of insulin, pinch your skin at an insulin injection site, and insert the needle at a 45-degree angle. You’ll get more detailed instructions from either your health care provider or a certified diabetes instructor.
If you don’t rotate insulin injection sites, you could become affected by lipohypertrophy, or “lipo.” This involves the development of fatty lumps which don’t absorb insulin in the same way unaffected tissue does.
In order to minimize your lipo risk, rotate insulin injection sites every time you inject insulin. Inject insulin at least a finger-width from your last injection site.
To stay safe, don’t reuse insulin injection sites until at least a month has passed since the last time you used them.
Medical Review by Shirley DeLeon, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist
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US MED® is America's primary choice for home delivery of quality medical supplies. Since 1996, over 500,000 satisfied patients have received disease state education and medical supplies from our highly trained customer service specialists. US MED®, the largest provider of Diabetic Supplies to the Medicare community, is licensed and accredited by Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) and maintains an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. We provide all products necessary to treat the Diabetes disease state, including therapies for its associated comorbidities. Our product portfolio includes, but is not limited to, the following: Diabetic testing strips, Continuous Glucose Monitors or CGMs, Insulin Pumps, Sleep Apnea and CPAP supplies, and Nebulizers.