Leveraging E-Health to Improve Care for Pediatric Diabetes: A New Approach to Care Delivery for Children and Families

Project start date and end date: 05/2018 - 04/2020

Background:
There are endless streams of data and technology tools for managing diabetes, yet families have not been trained to effectively use the them, despite their ability to assist in achieving optimal outcomes in diabetes.

Objectives:
The specific aims of this program are:

1. To design and implement an e-health care model for children and families with type 1 diabetes
2. To measure the impact of an e-health care model on parent/caregiver burden (productivity, absenteeism), glycemic control, and parental self-efficacy

Research Topics & Methods:
Children living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their families live in a digital age, yet their health care delivery system is analog. We propose to develop and pilot a novel e-health program for 150+ children with T1D at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Diabetes Clinic. This program will combine technology-based care and self-management training through two components which are not part of the current disease management model: (1) telemedicine care visits (quarterly visits with the diabetes team including measurement of hemoglobin A1c, data review, and decisions about medical management) and (2) “Genius Bar” services for diabetes data acquisition and visualization (in-person and remote group training for patients and families on downloading, viewing, interpreting, and utilizing diabetes data).

Implications:
Through our e-health program, we will create a next-generation model of care to leverage technology, support patient autonomy, and achieve improvements in glycemic control for children with diabetes across Michigan while decreasing cost and burden for families and supporting them as they become active participants in their child’s care.

Funder:
This project is funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.