Abstract
Background Video consultations are promoted as a tool to effectively supplement paediatric diabetes
outpatient care. However, knowledge about attitudes of diabetes professionals towards
this new technology is lagging behind. Diabetologists and diabetes nurses participating
in a controlled study (the VIDIKI study) with monthly video consultations for children
with type 1 diabetes were interviewed about their experience with this type of communication.
Research Design and Methods Guideline-based qualitative interviews with 9 telemedicine experts (7 paediatric
diabetologists and 2 diabetes nurses) and 7 paediatric diabetologists who agreed to
the telemedical co-treatment of their patients were analysed using qualitative content
analysis, in particular inductive category formation.
Results Diabetes experts reported generally positive attitudes towards video consultations.
They identified a number of unique benefits of telemedical interventions, including
higher frequency of contacts, greater sense of patient´s safety, ability to interact
with patients in their own homes, more timely and accurate medical monitoring, and
improved data management. Additionally, it was important to the experts to maintain
regular face-to-face consultations and to ensure close communication between telemedicine
and outpatient clinical experts.
Conclusions Prerequisites for successful video consultations include a comprehensive initial
technical training and an agreement on treatment responsibilities of all health care
professionals involved in the patient’s care. Under these conditions, the experts
reported significant advantages of video consultation in the treatment of children
with type 1 diabetes.
Key words video counseling - telemedicine - qualitative research - diabetologists’ perspectives
- continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)
