Increasing remote appointment efficiency in primary care

Profile

A GP Practice in the South Yorkshire ICS shares how digital tools have enabled proactive diabetes management and treatment optimisation for an elderly diabetes patient with comorbidities and mobility issues. 

Using the mySugr^® app^* and Accu-Chek Care has enabled remote monitoring and remote clinical interventions, increasing efficiency of telephone appointments and reducing the burden of travelling to appointments.

Challenge

Optimising remote diabetes care for a patient with reduced mobility

This patient is insulin-dependent, aged 81, and has high HbA1c levels and heart failure diagnosis. 

Diabetes patients with comorbidities require significantly more 20 minute face-to-face appointments annually than those without comorbidities, putting additional pressure on healthcare system capacity¹. 

The patient lives in a rural location with no access to a smartphone, and relies on family members to drive them to appointments. 

Remote telephone appointments can compliment in-person appointments, however, a lack of accurate up-to-date blood glucose data can mean the nurse does not have all the information needed to optimise treatment remotely.

Results

18 months after introducing Accu-Chek Care

Patient-centred care

• The patient with reduced mobility was able to access care through remote appointments
• The caregiver used the mySugr app to share the patient’s blood glucose results with the practice nurse^†, increasing the carer engagement

Efficiency

• Increased confidence in patient blood glucose results enabled the nurse to confidently titrate insulin remotely

Capacity

• The number of face-to-face appointments required was reduced
• Due to the practice nurse having access to the data in advance, remote appointments were shortened from 10 minutes to 5 minutes