Prevent Complications
People with diabetes should be diagnosed as early as possible to prevent complications, damage to organs and even premature death, with a simultaneous improvement of their quality of life. The prevalence of diabetes continues to expand, as diabetes patients fail to carry out regular control, and diabetes that has caused complications will require greater, more complex, and longer treatment costs, which in turn will increasingly burden both personal financing and that of BPJS Kesehatan. According to BPJS Kesehatan, they have already spent IDR 20 trillion in 2020 on services and medications for catastrophic diseases, one of which is Diabetes Mellitus (DM).
“A person does not immediately become diabetic. They move from a normal condition to prediabetes to diabetes. In a prediabetes stage, a person is often unaware of the signs he or she feels. If, at this stage, the person has received treatment, they can still be cured. In addition, a key factor for successful diabetes management is faithful adherence to continuous medication. By facilitating access to diabetes care through the Good Doctor digital health application, people can be aware of the signs of diabetes that they may feel early on, and for diabetes patients needing to carry out periodic controls to prevent complications. Telemedicine services can create an optimal quality of life with effective and efficient health care costs,” stated Head of Medical at PT Good Doctor Technology Indonesia, dr. Adhiatma Gunawan.
Findings obtained from a Pilot Study on Chronic Disease Management, a collaboration between Good Doctor and the Indonesian Medical Association Research Institute, show that only through digital health applications can diabetic can still receive doctor’s monitoring without having to go to a hospital. Telemedicine services are effective in helping diabetes patients lower their blood sugar levels. The research, involving a number of BPJS Health clinics in Bekasi, Bogor, and Depok, was carried out in two phases, namely, phase 1 (qualitative) taking place in December 2020 and phase 2 (quantitative) lasting three months, initiated in January 2021. The results of the phase 1 research show that the diabetes monitoring through the Good Doctor application received a positive response from respondents. The platform has the potential to support monitoring of the condition of diabetic patients, especially self-care monitoring on the development of their health.
Read: UGM students develop peripheral neuropathy detector for diabetics
The results of the phase 2 study showed that the group that exploited the application fully experienced a decrease in blood sugar levels by the end of the three months of monitoring, while the group with the intensity of involvement is not full, the condition of blood sugar was relatively unchanged. The average blood sugar level of the control group or those who did not install the app was higher than the group that installed Good Doctor.
In addition, there is a special chronic disease clinic mentioned in the application, if you need a face-to-face teleconsultation about diabetes. It also provides education about diabetes, through health articles curated by their team of doctors. (est)