The effect on patient outcomes remained less clear as these were rarely assessed .
Arrangements for follow-up ( organisational intervention ) also showed a favourable effect on process outcomes .
Multiple interventions in which patient education was added or in which the role of the nurse was enhanced also reported favourable effects on patients ' health outcomes .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Multifaceted professional interventions can enhance the performance of health professionals in managing patients with diabetes .
Organisational interventions that improve regular prompted recall and review of patients ( central computerised tracking systems or nurses who regularly contact the patient ) can also improve diabetes management .
The addition of patient-oriented interventions can lead to improved patient health outcomes .
BACKGROUND Diabetes is a common chronic disease that is increasingly managed in primary care .
Different systems have been proposed to manage diabetes care .
Using Telecommunication Technology to Manage Children with Diabetes: The Computer-Linked Outpatient Clinic (CLOC) Study
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effrcacy of using a telecommunication system to assist in the outpatient management of pediatric patients with insulin- dependent diabetes .  Metabolic control , patients ' psychosocial status , family functioning , perceived quality of life , patterns of parental/child responsibility for daily diabetes maintenance , and nursing time-on-task were evaluated . One hundred six pediatric patients ( mean age= 13.3 years ) were r and omly assigned to an experimental or control outpatient clinic for 1 year . Experimental subjects transmitted self-monitoring blood glucose data by modem to the hospital every 2 weeks . Transmitted data were review ed by nurse practitioners who telephoned subjects to discuss regimen adjustments . Control subjects received st and ard care with regimen adjustments made by physicians . There were no significant between-group differences for metabolic control , rates of hospitalization or emergency-room visits , psychological status , general family functioning , quality of life , or parent-child responsibility . A significant decrease was noted in nursing time-on-task for experimental subjects
The effect on patient outcomes remained less clear as these were rarely assessed .
Arrangements for follow-up ( organisational intervention ) also showed a favourable effect on process outcomes .
Multiple interventions in which patient education was added or in which the role of the nurse was enhanced also reported favourable effects on patients ' health outcomes .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Multifaceted professional interventions can enhance the performance of health professionals in managing patients with diabetes .
Organisational interventions that improve regular prompted recall and review of patients ( central computerised tracking systems or nurses who regularly contact the patient ) can also improve diabetes management .
The addition of patient-oriented interventions can lead to improved patient health outcomes .
BACKGROUND Diabetes is a common chronic disease that is increasingly managed in primary care .
Different systems have been proposed to manage diabetes care .