Using health information technology to prevent and treat diabetes.

A revolution is underway in health education and support for patients with, or at risk for, diabetes. This chapter will present examples of technology-enabled behavior change interventions that have the potential to lead this revolution in healthcare transformation. The seeds of the coming revolution have already been sown, though most of us can only see the emerging sprouts of these changes. The roots of this revolution come from the changing expectations patients have from their healthcare providers and their healthcare system, and the never-before-possible ways individuals and clinicians can interact. No longer are interactions limited to in-person or on-the-phone conversations. Interactions can be in the moment and with many people and multiple technologies at the same time. They can be clinician lead, clinician facilitated, or patient guided, with the clinician only being involved when and how the patient chooses. Increasingly, patients can get more of their questions answered from a simple computer search, but too often the answer isn’t accurate, complete, or appropriate for the individual’s specific circumstances. Most Internet and cell phone applications are tools that only help a patient with a specific task and are primarily effective for a targeted behavior or when the individual is highly motivated. With this revolution in education and support, clinicians will be better able to support large numbers of patients in the ongoing process of adopting and sustaining healthpromoting habits. Approaches that improve outcomes use new models of service provision in which technology-enabled self-management support provides patients with: