Identifying User Requirements for an Integrated E-Health Unit for Diabetes Mellitus

Maria Tzilini,Kyriakos Kazakos,Dimitris Folinas

doi:10.3390/diabetology2020006

Abstract

“Continuity of Care” is the main prerequisite for the unhindered movement of people across borders within the European Union (EU). The COntinuity of care in MEtabolic diseases through modern TECHnology (COMETECH) project aims to address the problem of inadequate access to health system services to people who live in isolated communities in Greece and North Macedonia cross-border areas. As the project is almost completed, 4 e-health units—2 in each country—have been established in isolated and deprived communities, aiming at introducing “Continuity of Care” for patients with diabetes in the border region between those countries. The establishment of the e-health units allows affordable access to medical services within Greece-North Macedonia cross-border area. These units (equipped with state-of-the-art medical devices, supported by an advanced software application and medical staff) record data of local people and offer valuable and high-quality medical care services. The records of the EU citizens using the COMETECH services are safely and easily accessible by their physicians. This paper presents the user requirements of e-health units and the medical devices that are set up for the COMETECH Project for helping people with diabetes in the targeted countries.

Highlights

Telehealth and telemedicine have evolved quickly in recent years, suggesting that they will continue to develop at a rapid pace [1,2]
The main objective of this paper is to present the user requirements of e-health units and the medical devices that are set up for the COMETECH Project in order to help people with diabetes in the targeted countries
To support the life-long education of the COMETECH involved population and the e-health units can record the data ofwith localexperts people, high-quality medical practitioners by using their telehealth interaction asoffer the means medical care services, and inform people about risks

Summary

Introduction

Telehealth and telemedicine have evolved quickly in recent years, suggesting that they will continue to develop at a rapid pace [1,2]. The main objective of this paper is to present the user requirements of e-health units and the medical devices that are set up for the COMETECH Project in order to help people with diabetes in the targeted countries These are the deliverables of a research project that proposes innovative telehealth technologies to address the problem of inadequate access to the health system services dedicated to diabetes for people who live in isolated communities in Greece and North Macedonia cross-border areas. By using 3rd- and 4th-generation Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) services, as well as fast Internet connections, COMETECH aims to be an exceptionally innovative means for introducing Continuity of Care to Greek and North Macedonia health practices. The requirements of the e-health units and the medical devices are presented and analyzed

Telehealth Research Project Overview

11. Blood Pressure and ABI measurement

E-Health Unit Requirements

11. Blood pressure and ABI measurement

Findings

Discussion and Conclusions