The Department of Endocrinology, 
Telemedicine for diabetes management during COVID-19: what we have learnt, what and how to implement.
- Primary Healthcare Centre, Felsorajk, Hungary.
- Department of Medicine and Oncology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
- Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Medical Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
- Department of Training and Studies, Royal Hospital, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman.
- Department of Preventive Cardiology and Lipidology , Medical University of Lodz (MUL), Lodz, Poland.
- Department of Medicine, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital Research Institute (PMMHRI), Lodz, Poland.
- Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Zielona Gora, Zielona Gora, Poland.
- Department of Biochemistry, Mohammed Bin Rashid University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) MultiMedica, Milan, Italy.
- Clinic of Endocrinology, Ankara Güven Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
- Unit of Cardiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Unit of Research and International Cooperation, University Hospital of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
- Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (Bind), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
- Department of Endocrinology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
- Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital, Karnal, India.
- Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
- The Research Institute, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research, University Hospital, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Diabetes Center, Second Department of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
- Department of Medicine, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, United States.
- Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
- Heart Institute (InCor), University of Sao Paulo Medical School Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Faculty of Medicine, Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, Carol Davila University, Bucharest, Romania.
- Cicarrone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
- Department of Medicine, Diabetes Research Centre, Chennai, India.
- Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (Promise), School of Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Frontiers in endocrinology Vol. 14 · pp. 1129793
PMID 37265696 DOI 10.3389/fendo.2023.1129793
Cite This Article
Laszlo Rosta, Adrienn Menyhart, Wael Al Mahmeed, Khalid Al-Rasadi, Kamila Al-Alawi, Maciej Banach, Yajnavalka Banerjee, Antonio Ceriello, Mustafa Cesur, Francesco Cosentino, Alberto Firenze, Massimo Galia, Su-Yen Goh, Andrej Janez, Sanjay Kalra, Nitin Kapoor, Nader Lessan, Paulo Lotufo, Nikolaos Papanas, Ali A Rizvi, Amirhossein Sahebkar, Raul D Santos, Anca Pantea Stoian, Peter P Toth, Vijay Viswanathan, Peter Kempler, Manfredi Rizzo. Telemedicine for diabetes management during COVID-19: what we have learnt, what and how to implement. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2023;14:1129793. doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1129793
Abstract
The past two decades have witnessed telemedicine becoming a crucial part of health care as a method to facilitate doctor-patient interaction. Due to technological developments and the incremental acquisition of experience in its use, telemedicine's advantages and cost-effectiveness has led to it being recognised as specifically relevant to diabetology. However, the pandemic created new challenges for healthcare systems and the rate of development of digital services started to grow exponentially. It was soon discovered that COVID-19-infected patients with diabetes had an increased risk of both mortality and debilitating sequelae. In addition, it was observed that this higher risk could be attenuated primarily by maintaining optimal control of the patient's glucose metabolism. As opportunities for actual physical doctor-patient visits became restricted, telemedicine provided the most convenient opportunity to communicate with patients and maintain delivery of care. The wide range of experiences of health care provision during the pandemic has led to the development of several excellent strategies regarding the applicability of telemedicine across the whole spectrum of diabetes care. The continuation of these strategies is likely to benefit clinical practice even after the pandemic crisis is over.
Keywords
- COVID - 19
- diabetes care
- diabetes prevention and control
- glucose monitoring
- telemedicine
- type-2 diabetes (T2DM)
