Organization of outpatient care for patients with diabetes mellitus in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic using telemedicine technologies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on global health and showed that the current state of most health systems in the world was not ready for such an emergency. During the pandemic, the provision of specialized planned medical care to patients with chronic diseases was suspended, and therefore telemedicine technologies for remote monitoring of patients began to be actively used in many countries of the world. In the Russian Federation, leading experts have issued organizational and methodological recommendations for the management of patients with diabetes and other chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures taken by the government to provide medicines and prevent COVID-19 infection have allowed many patients with diabetes to observe a self-isolation regime. Meanwhile, there are data on the negative impact of self-isolation on the general condition of patients for various reasons: a decrease in the level of self-control and physical activity, a reduction in the volume of planned specialized medical care. Telemedicine technologies in the Russian Federation have been successfully used for remote monitoring of patients with mild and moderate severity of COVID-19. Currently, the widespread use of telemedicine and modern digital technologies, which proved their effectiveness during the pandemic in the treatment and control of diabetes, has not yet reached an optimal level. This review examines the possibilities of using telemedicine technologies for patients with diabetes, analyzes the experience of foreign countries and the Russian Federation in managing patients with diabetes during a pandemic, and analyzes the effectiveness of management measures to provide medical care to patients with diabetes.