Comparing Telemedicine with Conventional Diabetes Care in Assessing Long-Term Outcomes in 451 Patients over 15 Years

Kesavadev, Jothydev Shankar Arun Krishnan Gopika David Ashwin Sanal Geethu Jothydev Krishnadev Chandran Gopika B.; Basanth, Anjana Sanal Ts Ajith Jayasree Jothydev Sunitha

Pros and cons of telemedicine (TM) in diabetes have been debated during Covid-19. Diabetes Tele Management System (DTMS®) which include a disease specific EMR, customized targets integrated with remote monitoring capabilities supported 24/7 by a multidisciplinary team has been actively delivering patient care for more than 2 decades. We assessed long-term outcomes in patients adhering to DTMS® for 15 ± 3 years(y) [Treatment group(TG)] compared with those on conventional care[Control Group (CG)]. Patients having a Virtual Consultation(VC) ≥ 1 in 3 months, Physical Visit(PV) ≥ 1 in 3y, and attended group diabetes education ≥ 1 in 3y were included. T2D (n=451, age 62.91 ± 11.64 y, avg. duration of diabetes 8.41 ± 2.78 at baseline) were deidentified and their clinical characteristics were extracted from EMR. DTSQ and Eq-5D were administered to capture treatment satisfaction and QoL respectively. TG demonstrated sustained improvements and maintenance of glycemic and non-glycemic parameters over 15y. Subjects expressed significant level of satisfaction with TM(Table). Judicious use of TM with customized frequency for virtual consultations, counselling and coaching significantly averts the long term complications of diabetes and is superior to conventional care. Nonetheless connectivity issues and economic loss to hospital are among the foremost challenges observed with TM.