Telemedicine had no convincing effect on quality of life , mortality or hypoglycemia .
INTERPRETATION : Compared with usual care , the addition of telemedicine , especially systems that allowed medication adjustments with or without text messaging or a Web portal , improved HbA1C but not other clinical ly relevant outcomes among patients with diabetes
BACKGROUND : Telemedicine , the use of telecommunications to deliver health services , expertise and information , is a promising but unproven tool for improving the quality of  diabetes care  .
We summarized the effectiveness of different methods of telemedicine for the management of diabetes compared with usual care .
Clinical Inertia Contributes to Poor Diabetes Control in a Primary Care Setting
Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether “ clinical inertia”—inadequate intensification of therapy by the provider — could contribute to high A1C levels in patients with type 2 diabetes managed in a primary care site . Methods In a prospect i ve observational study , management was compared in the Medical Clinic , a primary care site supervised by general internal medicine faculty , and the Diabetes Clinic , a specialty site supervised by endocrinologists . These municipal hospital clinics serve a common population that is largely African American , poor , and uninsured . Results Four hundred thirty-eight African American patients in the Medical Clinic and 2157 in the Diabetes Clinic were similar in average age , diabetes duration , body mass index , and gender , but A1C averaged 8.6 % in the Medical Clinic versus 7.7 % in the Diabetes Clinic ( P < .0001 ) . Use of pharmacotherapy  was less intensive in the Medical Clinic ( less use of insulin ) , and when patients had elevated glucose levels during clinic visits , therapy was less than half as likely to be advanced in the Medical Clinic compared to the Diabetes Clinic ( P < .0001 ) . Intensification rates were lower in the Medical Clinic regardless of type of therapy ( P < .0001 ) , and intensification of therapy was independently associated with improvement in A1C ( P < .001 ) . Conclusions Medical Clinic patients had worse glycemic control , were less likely to be treated with insulin , and were less likely to have their therapy intensified if glucose levels were elevated . To improve diabetes management and glycemic control nationwide , physicians in training and generalists must learn to overcome clinical inertia , to intensify therapy when appropriate , and to use insulin when clinical ly indicated
Telemedicine had no convincing effect on quality of life , mortality or hypoglycemia .
INTERPRETATION : Compared with usual care , the addition of telemedicine , especially systems that allowed medication adjustments with or without text messaging or a Web portal , improved HbA1C but not other clinical ly relevant outcomes among patients with diabetes
BACKGROUND : Telemedicine , the use of telecommunications to deliver health services , expertise and information , is a promising but unproven tool for improving the quality of  diabetes care  .
We summarized the effectiveness of different methods of telemedicine for the management of diabetes compared with usual care .