When Christina started working at Healthy Living almost five years ago, she had already been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It runs in her family. Since then, Christina has grown into a leader in HLMS’s customer care team. Her personal experiences with diabetes have informed her compassionate, understanding, and knowledgeable approach to customer service. And coming to know more about available diabetes management technology through working at Healthy Living has improved Christina’s own life with diabetes.
During our recent conversation, Christina explained to me that being diagnosed with Type 2 required a complete lifestyle change for her, including finding employment where stress levels were lower. Technology, specifically the Libre, has made a tremendous impact on her health. She can more easily see the connection between what she eats and her blood sugars, and Christina can make decisions in real time for medication therapies. This also increases her motivation to help others, because she knows what they are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.
Christina is currently a Team Leader for one of our insulin pump and CGM teams. Her group mainly works with referrals from Metro Detroit (and some out of state) , especially Ann Arbor, Farmington Hills, and Children’s Hospital. Referrals may come from CGM and insulin pump manufacturers or directly from doctor’s offices. Patients can also call us to find out more about starting the process. Christina’s team handles everything from start to finish, working with the doctor’s office and insurance, then coordinating shipment to the patient. Christina has noticed that as technology is advancing, availability to patients is also advancing as insurance companies are recognizing more and more the benefits of CGM and insulin pumps.
In our interview, Christina talked about the importance of making each patient feel like he or she is the only patient. And as Healthy Living grows, she believes that we need to continue to ensure that our team collaborates well together. Although the transition to working from home wasn’t difficult, Christina explained that communication is the biggest challenge, and our two best responses are our virtual touch-base meetings to keep everyone engaged and Slack. Slack an online team communication platform that Healthy Living has been using for years and has become even more important now as we work together, yet apart.
Christina really gave me more insight into Healthy Living and how other employees feel about being a part of our culture. She believes that what most sets us apart is that:
We’re dedicated to taking care of customers first.
We make it easier to live with and manage diabetes.
Patients are more than just a number.
She finished by saying that everyone from the top down makes sure that patients are taken care of collectively. For example, when COVID-19 and the quarantine first started in early 2020, there was so much uncertainty about what supplies would be available in future months. Healthy Living proactively brought in an additional three months of supplies in advance to ensure that our patients would be covered.
Thank you, Christina, for your openness. We appreciated receiving a glimpse into your own experiences with Type 2 diabetes and your commitment to Healthy Living patients.