Tele-Management of Diabetes in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Abstract

With the first sunrise of 2020, the world woke up to a completely new reality; the era of COVID-19 had begun. What was first reported as an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan on the last day of the year before quickly became a pandemic, influencing nearly every human being, either directly or indirectly [1]. This resulted in the implementation of widespread public health measures that were unprecedented in human history. Personal protective procedures such as the use of masks and gloves, hand hygiene measures, sneezing precautions, environmental sterilization, and restrictions on local or international movement became the norm. Diagnosed cases were isolated, and known contacts were put in quarantine. Even whole countries were placed under lockdown, if needed. Stay-at-home measures and physical distancing guidelines were mandated. In the blink of an eye, we were living in a different world. As far as healthcare was concerned, providers and resources were rapidly redeployed towards the in-patient management of people affected by COVID-19. All non-emergency clinic visits and elective procedures were cancelled. Whenever possible, patients were remotely managed with the help tele-health technology. We learnt from experience that patients with diabetes were at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 [2]. Therefore, most scheduled clinic visits for diabetes management were also converted into tele-health consultations. Although the majority of our colleagues in diabetes management think that things would go back to normal, we do need to ask ourselves what lasting impact would this epidemic have in a the outpatient management of diabetes in a post-COVID-19 world? In terms of the usual management of diabetes, the normal process to date has focussed around multiple clinic visits over the course of a year, with the time interval determined by the severity of the disease as well as the availability of appointments with the healthcare providers. However, as time passes, tele-health continues to assume a larger role in clinical diabetes management, given the ongoing restrictions in place. Therefore, it would be better to start comprehending this paradigm shift in clinical management as well as be acquainted with what technology has to offer. Generally, telehealth technology can be utilized at 3 different levels in outpatient diabetes management.