Once patients enroll, they fill out an extensive intake summary and send in information about their blood-glucose levels. The medical operations manager then contacts clients for administrative purposes, much like a front office staff member would in a clinic. The nurses review subscribers' information and contact them based on their glucose profiles and to address any questions, problems, or concerns. Internet communication allows the nurses to divide their time among patients in increments as small as a few minutes, allowing them to effectively interact with about 25 to 30 patients a day. Though subscribers frequently e-mail the nurses when they're first enrolled in the program, the rate tapers off as the clients gain knowledge, Mayes said.
Plans are under way to contract with health insurers to cover the cost as a preventive measure.
Freedom to ask The online format has benefits the nurses did not originally foresee. E-mail offers subscribers an uninhibited way to ask questions without feeling like they're bothering the health professionals. We were shocked by that. They're finding that people reveal potentially embarrassing information more often on the Internet than in person because someone isn't sitting across from them and judging them. So, the nurses now field a lot more questions about erectile dysfunction and recreational drug use than they ever did in the clinic.