The program was established in the province of San Juan and its goal is to provide health professionals in prisons with training in the application of telemedicine tools for the treatment of diabetes and other chronic diseases.
The Direction of Plans and Programs of the Government of San Juan, in Argentina, in collaboration with the San Juan Diabetes Program (PROSADIA), provided training in telemedicine and tele-diabetes to health personnel belonging to the Provincial Prison Service. The training was conducted by Lorena Cardozo who serves as the head of the National Telehealth Plan.
PROSADIA is the provincial authority in San Juan, in charge of the follow-up and support with the treatment of patients living with diabetes. Through the tele-health platforms, its objective is to strengthen the medical attention to patients, in this case to patients in prisons.
Through the training of the medical staff of the Provincial Prison Service, remote consultations with specialists will be possible, in order to follow up on their treatment. The consultations will last 30 minutes, however, previously the prison health staff will perform an assessment that includes the calculation of BMI, waist circumference, weight and blood pressure.
The specialists will decide on the frequency of the consultations and will evaluate the risk factors according to each patient's condition. Likewise, the specialists will determine the insulin treatment depending on the patients and will provide general indications about the care.
Through telemedicine and telehealth, the government of San Juan and its health services seek to bring medical care closer to people in prisons and thus reduce mobility and transfers to health centers.