Abstract
Telemedicine was used to provide diabetes consultations to improve glycemic control for individuals incarcerated in 12 institutions in the New York State penal system. A total of 108 televisits were conducted from January 1, 2004 to February 28, 2007, with 43 males with multiple medical comorbidities and difficult-to-control type 1 (35%) or type 2 (65%) diabetes. Most (86%) required insulin therapy. It was found that the number of individuals with poorest glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c >9%) was reduced by approximately 40%, and 29% of the patients were able to achieve a hemoglobin A1c <7%. The greatest improvements in glycemic control were observed in those with frequent televisits over a longer duration of follow-up. This suggests that telemedicine is a feasible approach for improving diabetes care in this population.
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