Efficacy of the Telemedicine for Reach, Education, Access, and Treatment (TREAT) Model for Diabetes Care

Interactive Video Telehealth Models to Improve Access to Diabetes Specialty Care and Education in the Rural Setting: A Systematic Review

“…Patients demonstrated improvement in glycemic control after one video consultation and continued to show progress in lowering A1C levels after completion of the telehealth program from baseline to 6 months of follow-up. A comparison of telehealth and usual care indicated statistically significant A1C change (baseline 8.6 ± 0.3% in the telemedicine group vs. 8.9 ± 0.4 with usual care; completion 6.6 ± 0.2 in the telemedicine group vs. 8.1 ± 0.2% with usual care, P = 0.02) (18). …”

A Shared Decision-Making Approach to Telemedicine: Engaging Rural Patients in Glycemic Management

“…Sample size was limited by the availability of telemedicine appointments within the study period (typically 3–4 new patient appointments per month). The project was not designed to evaluate the effect of the SDM process on outcomes such as HbA1c with as much rigor as the original TREAT study [18]. Additionally, longer follow-up is needed to fully evaluate effects on HbA1c and other diabetes outcomes with continued care.…”

“…Using a team-based approach delivered via the telemedicine for reach, education, access and treatment (TREAT) intervention, investigators at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) demonstrated improvement in diabetes clinical outcomes, including improvement in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), along with improvements in patient self-care, empowerment, reduced diabetes distress and high provider/patient satisfaction [17,18,19]. The TREAT model includes an endocrinologist providing consultation via videoconferencing and a nurse diabetes educator (DE) at the patient’s side, who provides associated diabetes self-management education and support.…”

“…Although shown to be effective and well-received [17,18,19], the TREAT study revealed that patients are unfamiliar with team-based care, particularly when provided in a telemedicine format. Specifically, a need was identified to help prepare patients to engage in discussions about glycemic management and introduce them to the various members of the TREAT team.…”

Technology in the management of diabetes mellitus

“…Studies from the United States have shown that telemedicine interventions can lead to significant reductions in HbA1c. [24,25] The Chunampet Rural Diabetes Prevention Project is a prime example of a telemedicine intervention for diabetes. [26] This project, conceived and carried out by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation with the support of the World Diabetes Foundation, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the National Agro Foundation, has been initiated in a cluster of villages in Tamil Nadu, South India.…”