A Dubai-based specialist clinic has become the first healthcare provider outside of the United States to be awarded full URAC accreditation in Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), it has been confirmed.

GluCare Integrated Diabetes Center – which describes itself as “the world’s first healthcare provider” to “employ remote continuous data monitoring” for diabetic patients – has received the URAC accreditation for its pioneering digital therapeutics (DTx) programme.

Patients with diabetes and/or other metabolic disorders undergoing the plan reportedly begin by using kits that include a wearable band to measure heart rate and heart rate variability, respiration rate, physical activity, skin temperature, and sleep patterns. They are also provided with a wearable blood glucose monitor.

The kit collects data in real-time, with insights and risk factors identified for each patient via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

“Existing methods for managing diabetics are not moving the needle in terms of clinical outcomes or costs. We believe the entire way diabetes is managed is ready for disruption,” said GluCare co-founder and managing director, Ihsan Almarzooqi. “A key component of the GluCare model is that it utilises RPM and coaching [to] be able to practice a continuous model of care, rather than an episodical, symptomatic ‘snapshot’ every three months.”

“Providers need to manage patients at all times, not just a few times per year. Our mission is to re-invent the care model of diabetes.”

WHY IT MATTERS

URAC, which stands for “Utilization Review Accreditation Commission”, is a Washington DC-based international digital health accrediting body that works to promote healthcare quality through its educational and measurement programmes.

“URAC’s RPM Accreditation Program is the first comprehensive set of standards created to assess many key aspects of an RPM program,” URAC outlines on its website, citing standards including: “operations, professional oversight, clinical workflow, quality procedures, technology requirements, and risk management.”

To qualify for URAC RPM accreditation, programmes must include the ongoing use of portable or wearable technology-enabled patient monitoring; secure transmission of patient data for assessment or monitoring, and care facilitated outside traditional venues (i.e., patient and provider are not co-located).

The type of accreditations offered by URAC are becoming increasingly popular in the United Arab Emirates. For example, last year the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) made ‘Telehealth Accreditation’ a requirement for any medical institution providing such services in the country. 

THE LARGER CONTEXT

In April, GluCare released its first set of preliminary outcomes that showed that patients using its programme achieved an average HbA1c reduction of 1.7% points over 90 days.

“For diabetes patients, HbA1c is a key measure of how well controlled one’s blood sugar has been on average over a three-month period. Studies have shown that a reduction of just 1% point in HbA1c results in a 21% decrease in end-point diseases related to diabetes, a 21% reduction in diabetes-related deaths, a 14% decrease in heart attacks, and a 37% reduction in microvascular complications,” the report stated.

“GluCare’s preliminary performance tops best-in-class programmes globally that are generally achieving more modest reductions over a three-to-twelve-month period.”

ON THE RECORD

“By earning RPM Accreditation from URAC, GluCare operates on the forefront of health care delivery,” said Shawn Griffin, president and CEO of URAC. “Meeting URAC’s RPM standards demonstrates that GluCare leverages technologies to advance high quality care that promotes clinical best practices, consumer protections, and care continuity among patients and providers.”