Diabetes prevention is untapped opportunity

According to Medline chief marketing officer Stu Schneider, it’s time for retailers and consumer health companies to start looking at the current diabetes care market like an iceberg. With more than 37% of Americans diagnosed as prediabetic, the current market for diabetes management and monitoring is really just the tip of the iceberg. “Really, the opportunity that exists is what lies beneath the water keeping those prediabetic Americans from becoming diabetic,” Schneider told attendees at a June 15 Retail Health Summit, co-hosted by Drug Store News and Mack Elevation Forum.

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“It can’t just be about monitoring and treating it. You really have to think about the disease state in its entirety and start with proactive management,” Schneider said, noting that a big focus for Medline has been skin care, foot care, wound care and making sure that products are tailored to the user’s needs, in particular with diabetes patients of size — some 87% of patients are obese. But a big opportunity for being a resource for patients is around understanding that their journey didn’t begin with a diagnosis.



“You really have to map out the journey from prediabetes to unfortunately maybe acute chronic wounds — and see where the points are that [the retailer] can influence that individual, where they can convert them in the store, where they can be a resource to them offline and in their home,” Schneider said. “And as you look through that entire journey, you create a lot of opportunity for the company to be able to engage with them.”