How One Company Is Mining Big Data to Fight Diabetes Glooko's diabetes-management platform allows patients and doctors more information, and investors are interested.

There are 29 million people living with diabetes in the U.S.—more than 9 percent of the population—at an annual cost of $245 billion. Even with an array of devices and drugs available to manage the condition, diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the country.

Rick Altinger, CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Glooko, calls it an unnecessary pandemic. "Properly controlled, with the technology and devices we have today, you can live a healthy life," he explains. "You don't need to die from diabetes."

Managing the disease means careful monitoring of numerous variables, including blood sugar, medication and direct impact of food and exercise. "Today, there are people with Types 1 and 2 diabetes receiving suboptimal care. We don't need to spend more money caring for them," Altinger says. "We need to leverage big data and analytics."