Telemonitoring in practice

Telemonitoring, i.e. the use of telecommunications technology for health management, is increasingly being used in home diagnostics for chronic illnesses.

Diabetes patients, for example, can lead a practically normal life. However, situations (underlying diseases, insulin changes, etc.) may arise in which the patient needs the support of relatives or professionals such as doctors or diabetes consultants. The focus is therefore primarily on enabling third parties to intervene in genuine emergency situations which, although rare, are serious if they occur. A further function, particularly in the event of changes, is to allow corrections to be made at an early stage in order to prevent the development of incorrect patterns of behavior.

Supporting children with chronic illnesses

Telemonitoring allows parents to monitor their children's blood glucose levels at all times and be informed immediately of any poor readings, for example.

The manufacturer BodyTel offers the blood glucose monitoring and diabetes management system GlucoTel for this.

As part of the integrated telemonitoring process, after measuring the blood glucose levels, these values are automatically sent to a telemedical online diary via the child's cell phone. The parents can access all information immediately. If the measurement values are unusual, they are informed immediately by SMS, e-mail or fax and are able to react very quickly.

Autonomy for parents who are ill

At home, BodyTel Gateway can be used as an alternative transfer medium for telemonitoring. This allows adults to support their elderly parents, for example.

It also automatically transfers the measurement values and enables the input and reading of additional information via a large, interactive display. Many elderly people find this easier than using a cell phone.

It helps elderly people to remain in their own familiar surroundings independently for longer. In an emergency, a relative or a monitoring center can be alerted if readings are out of the ordinary.