La pandemia de COVID-19 ha impulsado el manejo de la diabetes vía telemedicina

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has come to change medical attention radically. Diabetes has been identified as a risk factor that increases mortality. Good glycemic control (70 to 180 mg/dL) is associated with a significant reduction in the severity of the disease and its mortality. Persons living with diabetes must maintain physical distancing, and at the same time, keep their medical follow-up, ideally improving their diabetes management to reduce risks. For these reasons, remote medical attention is so important now. Interactive telemedicine allows physicians and patients to communicate in real time via videoconference. This has been possible thanks to the widespread use of electronic medical records and smartphones in the general population. Endocrinology, and specifically, Diabetology, are specialties that are compatible with telemedicine. In this article we describe the history of telemedicine, its state of the art, what it is, which platforms exist, which steps should be followed in a remote consultation, advantages and disadvantages, its application with COVID-19 patients, the scientific evidence of the use of telemedicine in diabetes management, and the legal framework.