A Diabetic Patients Remote Monitoring System in a Rural Community of Brazil: A Report of the Technological Implementation

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Diabetes is one of the main causes of death nowadays. Considering this negative statistic, the Centro de Saude da Reserva Hospital - CSR, located in the city of Sao Lourenco do Sul, RS, Brazil, is implementing a new model of health assistance among the inhabitants. A TeleDiabetes monitoring method is part of this initiative. Objectives: 1) To implement the technical infrastructure of the TeleDiabetes network in the CSR, 2) To ensure that health care professionals of the Institution can analyze the clinical data of patients in the CSR server database. Method: The method includes the acquisition and implementation of a software license for the management of diabetic patients, developed by Mediinspect©, from the Czech Republic. The project offers immediate analysis of patients’ glucose level, through homecare TeleDiabetes strategy. For this study, 10 diabetic patients, living in the rural region, were selected after some technical evaluation, such as: 1) Internet coverage, 2) Basic skills for managing new technologies. Each patient received 2 devices: A digital glucose meter with strips and lancets, and a smartphone. Twice a day, the patient sends the glucose data to the TeleDiabetes Center in the CSR, where a nurse is receiving and analyzing, in real time, the patients’ data. The CSR TeleDiabetes Center is equipped with the following items: Server, Desktop, 5 MB Internet Connection, a 60" LCD TV, Printer. Results: The clinical data of the diabetic patients, as well as comorbidities, are available to the nursing and medical staff of the CSR. Discussion: Telemedicine strategies can highly contribute to the achievement of remote specialized medical advice in order to improve patients’ care. The contribution of qualified multicentre professionals, including advice from IT professionals towards the implementation of Telemedicine projects, can play a major role for the success of the rural eHealth project. Conclusion: This innovative project is a starting point with a premise of a new concept of health prevention and assistance, which includes TeleDiabetes as a key component of some new eHealth strategies.

Conflict of interest. The author declare no conflict of interest