Diabetes Metab J.  2023 May;47(3):307-314. 10.4093/dmj.2022.0386.

Opening the Precision Diabetes Care through Digital Healthcare

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The national healthcare systems of every country in the world cannot sustain the rise in healthcare expenditure caused by chronic diseases and their complications. To sustain the national healthcare system, a novel system should be developed to improve the quality of care and minimize healthcare costs. For 20 years, our team developed patient-communicating digital healthcare platforms and proved their efficacy. National scale randomized control trials are underway to systematically measure the efficacy and economic benefits of this digital health care system. Precision medicine aims to maximize effectiveness of disease management by considering individual variability. Digital health technologies enable precision medicine at a reasonable cost that was not available before. The government launched the “National Integrated Bio-big Data Project” which will collect diverse health data from the participants. Individuals will share their health information to physicians or researchers at their will by gateway named “My-Healthway.’ Taken together, now we stand in front of the evolution of medical care, so-called “Precision medicine.” led by various kinds of technologies and a huge amount of health information exchange. We should lead these new trends as pioneers, not as followers, to establish and implement the best care for our patients that can help them to withstand their devastating diseases.

Keyword

Chronic disease; Digital technology; Precision medicine

Figure

  • Fig. 1. A new paradigm of diabetes care through digital technology. In the future, each individual will be in charge of their own health data. Personal health record (PHR) and life-log data can be exchanged by “My-healthway” and information can be integrated and stored in individual healthcare apps. This valuable individual health information can be used for clinical application (mobile healthcare), establish national bio-big data, invent new health care (digital twin) system, and enable precision medicine. CGM, continuous glucose monitoring.


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