AHRQ Health IT Update: Telemonitoring of Diabetes

AHRQ Health IT Update: Telemonitoring of Diabetes

AHRQ Health IT Update: Telemonitoring of Diabetes

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 01/27/2014 11:48 AM EST

Primary Care Telemonitoring to Support Diabetes Management

According to a new study supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), adding telemonitoring to the routine care diabetes patients receive did not significantly change outcomes. “Effect of home telemonitoring on glycemic and blood pressure control in primary care clinic patients with diabetes,” appeared online January 3 in Telemedicine and e-health. Researchers compared 53 people who received routine care with 55 people who got routine care plus telemonitoring. After 12 weeks of care, hemoglobin A1c (A1c) and blood pressure levels were not significantly different between the two groups. The study findings suggest that the addition of technology alone is unlikely to lead to improvements in outcomes and that telemonitoring of patients should be limited to those who have a significant change to their care plan. More research is needed to determine how primary care practices can effectively use telemonitoring to support patient’s abilities to manage diabetes.

Select to access the abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24404819.