Twenty-first century management of diabetes with shared telemedicine appointments.

Abstract

This commentary article discusses the benefits of utilizing telemedicine to conduct shared medical appointments for people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. We conducted a literature review of articles about shared medical appointments or group medical visits in people with diabetes with associated clinical data. We identified 43 articles. Models of this approach to care have demonstrated positive outcomes in adults and children with type 1 diabetes. Shared telemedicine appointments also have the potential to improve diabetes self-management, reduce the treatment burden, and improve psychosocial outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes. Ten key recommendations for implementation are presented to guide the development of shared telemedicine appointments for diabetes. These recommendations can improve care for diabetes.