Rapid Implementation of a Diabetes Telemedicine Clinic During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: Our Protocol, Experience, and Satisfaction Reports in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The importance of telemedicine in diabetes care became more evident during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as many people with diabetes, especially those in areas without well-established telemedicine, lost access to their health care providers (HCPs) during this pandemic. Subjects and Methods: We describe a simplified protocol of a Diabetes Telemedicine Clinic that utilizes technological tools readily available to most people with diabetes and clinics around the world. We report the satisfaction of 145 patients and 14 HCPs who participated in the virtual clinic and 210 patients who attended the virtual educational sessions about “Diabetes and Ramadan.” Results: The majority of patients agreed or strongly agreed that the use of telemedicine was essential in maintaining a good glucose control during the pandemic (97%) and they would use the clinic again in the future (86%). A similar high satisfaction was reported by patients who attended the “Diabetes and Ramadan” virtual educational session and 88% of them recommended continuing this activity as a virtual session every year. Majority of the HCPs (93%) thought the clinic protocol was simple and did not require a dedicated orientation session prior to implementing. Conclusions: The simplicity of our Diabetes Telemedicine Clinic protocol and the high satisfaction reported by patients and HCPs make it a suitable model to be adopted by clinics, especially during pandemics or disasters in resource-limited settings. This clinic model can be quickly implemented and does not require technological tools other than those widely available to most people with diabetes, nowadays. We were able to successfully reduce the number of patients, HCPs, and staff physically present in the clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic without negatively impacting the patients’ nor the HCPs’ satisfaction with the visits.

Measuring the Patients’ Satisfaction About Telemedicine Used in Saudi Arabia During COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The participants thought that telemedicine is not suitable for all medical cases, and most of them thought that chronic disease follow-up is the most suitable to be cared for by telemedicine. A systematic review done in 2019 supported our result and showed that to manage COVID-19, there are many easy-to- set-up potentials in live video consulting [ 24 ]. Studies have found that live video conferencing can lead to the avoiding of direct physical contact, thereby diminishing the risk of exposure to respiratory secretions, and preventing the potential transmission of infection to physicians and other healthcare providers [ 25 ].…”

Telemedicine Practice in Saudi Arabia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Although patient resistance to telemedicine was an important consideration among our respondents, a majority felt that patient satisfaction to telemedicine is likely to be high. High patient satisfaction with telemedicine has been reported by many studies in the past, including a recent study from Saudi Arabia, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic [1].…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased use of telemedicine all over the world, including Saudi Arabia [1,2]. It is possible that telemedicine will form an integral part of the "new normal."…”

Determinants of mental health outcomes among people with and without diabetes during the COVID‐19 outbreak in the Arab Gulf Region

“…The lack of broadband internet access in some parts of the world, need for some technical literacy, and risk of loss of privacy are other limitations to the wide adoption of telemedicine. However, we have previously shown that the adoption of a simple diabetes telemedicine protocol, that does not require technological tools or skills other than those widely available to most PWD and HCPs, is a feasible option that is associated with both high patients' and HCPs' satisfaction and low worries about loss of privacy 32 . Whether the same applies to PWD who also have mental illnesses remains unknown and warrants future studies.…”