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 .
Effect of hospital-based telephone coaching on glycaemic control and adherence to management guidelines in type 2 diabetes, a randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Failure to achieve treatment targets is common among people with type 2 diabetes . Cost-effective treatments are required to delay the onset and slow the progression of diabetes-related complications . AIMS This study aim ed to measure the effect of a 6-month telephone coaching intervention on glycaemic control , risk factor status and adherence to diabetes management practice s at the intervention 's conclusion ( 6 months ) and at 12 months . METHOD This r and omised controlled trial recruited 94 adults with type 2 diabetes and an HbA1C > 7 % from the Diabetes Clinic of St Vincent 's Hospital Melbourne . People who were non-English speaking , cognitively impaired , severely hearing impaired or without telephone access were excluded . Participants were r and omised to receive usual care plus 6 months of telephone coaching focusing on achieving treatment targets and complication screening , or usual care only . The primary outcome was HbA1C at 6 months ; secondary outcomes included other physiological and monitoring measures . RESULTS Significant interaction effects were observed between group and time at 6 months , demonstrating improvement in HbA1C , fasting glucose , diastolic blood pressure and physical activity . The intervention 's effect on these parameters was not sustained at 12 months . Intervention group participants also improved compliance with foot examinations and pneumococcal vaccination by 6 months and retinal screening by 12 months . CONCLUSIONS Telephone coaching improved glycaemic control and adherence to complication screening in people with type 2 diabetes , for the duration of its delivery , but these effects were not maintained on withdrawal of the intervention . Strategies that assist patients to sustain these benefits are required
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 .