FALL 2020 • VOL 14 ISSUE 1
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Expanding Telehealth for Diabetes Management Writer: Rehan Mehta • Editor: Keshav Kailash
T
he COVID-19 pandemic has forced society to restructure and adapt. Unsurprisingly, technology has been at the center of almost every adaptation and this is clearly evident in the field of medicine. This pandemic has dramatically accelerated the use of telehealth as a way to ensure the safety of patients and healthcare providers while still providing optimal care. The potential benefits of telehealth are now being realized, and it is now clear that telehealth will serve an important role in the future of healthcare. One area in which telehealth is well suited for and can improve patient health outcomes, is diabetes management. According to the CDC, about 10.5 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, which is about 34.2 million people. In addition to this, the total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. is estimated to be over $320 billion. Most of these costs are spent on treating complications that are a result of poorly controlled diabetes [1]. It is evident that diabetes and its resulting complications place a substantial economic and social burden on our society and that there is an urgent need for improvements in diabetes management. Existing evidence suggests that telehealth provides an opportunity to effectively monitor and manage people with diabetes at a distance and as frequently as needed. The goal of diabetes management is to keep one’s blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible and therefore reduce the risk of complications [7]. Hemoglobin A1c, or just A1c, is considered to be the gold standard for monitoring blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, adults with diabetes should aim to have an A1c level
Illustrator: Lucy Chen
of below seven percent [2]. The higher the A1c level, the greater one’s risk is of developing complications due to diabetes. This level can be maintained with a combination of a healthy diet, exercise and medication. One meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials has shown that telehealth interventions
result in a small but statistically significant lowering of hemoglobin A1c levels when compared to usual care in adults with type two diabetes [7]. In these trials, telehealth involves patients sending their daily blood glucose readings to their healthcare professional who will then follow up by reviewing and
