November 6, 2003
Project uses Internet as tool for diabetes management
Seeking to realize the full potential of the emerging field of e-health – the use of interactive technologies to improve health behavior and disease management –the UW School of Medicine is one of 18 sites to have been awarded a grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its Health e-Technologies Initiative national program. School of Medicine faculty members at Harborview will conduct the study, “Randomized Controlled Trial of Diabetes Disease Management Over the Internet.”
“This grant will allow us to study how the Internet can be used as a disease management tool for African-American patients who suffer from diabetes,” said lead investigator Dr. Harold Goldberg, professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine. “As previous studies suggest, programs that enhance disease knowledge by providing immediate and ongoing feedback have the greatest likelihood of enhancing patients’ ability to manage their disease.”
The 30-month grant period begins with preparation of the software application module, which includes six Web sites. The next phase of the study involves recruiting about 100 participants from the Adult Medicine outpatient clinic at Harborview. Individual patients will be followed for one year, beginning in April 2004. The aim of the study is to compare usual care versus collaborative chronic disease management over the Internet for disadvantaged African Americans with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes prevalence among adult blacks in Seattle/King County is 2.6 times the rate in whites, and the death rate is 3.7 times higher. The study will allow patients at home to:
- View their electronic medical record, the same record used by providers.
- Upload blood glucose readings stored in a digital meter.
- Manually enter medication, nutrition, and exercise information into an online daily diary.
- Communicate with providers regarding treatment recommendations or other questions using a clinical e-mail service.
- Obtain additional information from the patient education “Living with Diabetes” Web site.
- Employ a second education Web site to collaboratively generate action plans intended to enhance self-efficacy by teaching problem-solving skills.
The specific aims of the study are to determine the effect of case-managed, Web-based diabetes care, and then use interviews to identify any barriers or strengths the Internet poses.
Others involved in the study include: Drs. Daniel Lessler, Irl Hirsch, Allen Cheadle, Alton Hart, and James Ralston, along with Theresa O’Young , Kathleen Mertens, Mary Mullen, the project coordinator, and Michael Uretz. For more on the RWJ Foundation program, see the Web site http://www.hetinitiative.org
