Managing New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities
Publication: Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics
Volume 22, Issue Number 6
Abstract
Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic provides an incentive to expand considerably the use of telemedicine for high-risk patients with diabetes, and especially for the management of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Telemedicine and digital medicine also offer critically important approaches to improve access, efficacy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of medical care for people with diabetes.
Methods: Two case reports are presented where telemedicine was used effectively and safely after day 1 in person patient education. These aspects of the management of new-onset T1D patients (adult and pediatric) included ongoing diabetes education of the patient and family digitally. The patients used continuous glucose monitoring with commercially available analysis software (Dexcom Clarity and Glooko) to generate ambulatory glucose profiles and interpretive summary reports. The adult subject used multiple daily insulin injections; the pediatric patient used an insulin pump. The subjects were managed using a combination of e-mail, Internet via Zoom, and telephone calls.
Results: These two cases show the feasibility and effectiveness of use of telemedicine in applications in which we had not used it previously: new-onset diabetes education and insulin dosage management.
Conclusions: The present case reports illustrate how telemedicine can be used safely and effectively for new-onset T1D training and education for both pediatric and adult patients and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic has acutely stimulated the expansion of the use of telemedicine and digital medicine. We conclude that telemedicine is an effective approach for the management of patients with new-onset T1D.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics
Volume 22 • Issue Number 6 • June 2020
Pages: 431 - 439
PubMed: 32302499
Copyright
Copyright 2020, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
History
Published in print: June 2020
Published online: 29 May 2020
Published ahead of print: 17 April 2020
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Authors
Author Disclosure Statement
S.K.G. received research grants from MannKind Corporation, Eli-Lilly, Novo-Nordisk, Merck, Lexicon, Medtronic, Dario, NCI, T1D Exchange, NIDDK, JDRF, Animas, Dexcom and Sanofi through University of Colorado, received consulting fees for advisory boards from MannKind, Dexcom, Eli-Lilly, Novo-Nordisk, Sanofi, Roche, Merck, Lexicon and Medtronic. G.P.F. conducts research supported by Medtronic, Dexcom, Abbott, Insulet, Tandem, and Lilly. He has served as a speaker, consultant, and/or advisory board member for Medtronic, Dexcom, Abbott, Insulet, Tandem, and Lilly. I.B.H. received research funding from Medtronic and is a consultant for Abbott, Roche, Bigfoot, and Becton Dickinson. D.R. serves as a consultant for Lilly and Better Therapeutics and has previously served as a consultant to Dexcom, Medtronic, Abbott, Roche, Lifescan, and Informed Data Systems.
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There was no funding or support for this manuscript.
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