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Digital Quality Monitoring for Type 2 Diabetes in Swiss Primary Care: Qualitative Interview Study
Odile-Florence Giger1, Lola Jo Ackermann2, Marinja Principe2,3
1Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|May 12, 2026
Summary
A digital quality score for type 2 diabetes (T2D) management could improve care by integrating patient data and automating alerts. Successful adoption hinges on seamless GP workflow integration and stakeholder collaboration for better T2D outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology and Diabetes Care
- Health Informatics
- Primary Care Management
Background:
- General practitioners (GPs) manage most type 2 diabetes (T2D) cases globally, facing increasing workloads.
- The Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) developed a paper-based quality score to monitor T2D care standards in primary care.
- The current paper format of the SSED score presents an administrative burden for physicians.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine challenges in T2D management within Swiss primary care.
- To assess the limitations of the existing SSED quality score.
- To identify strategies for the digital implementation and adoption of a digital SSED quality score.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 38 qualitative interviews with 39 participants across four stakeholder groups: healthcare professionals, individuals with T2D, software developers, and health insurers.
- Analyzed interview data using thematic analysis to identify challenges, barriers, and facilitators related to T2D management and digital quality monitoring.
Main Results:
- Key challenges in T2D management include time pressure for GPs, fragmented care, and insufficient personalized patient support.
- Barriers to digital quality monitoring include poor integration with GP systems, misaligned incentives, and limited relevance to multimorbidity.
- Facilitators for digital adoption include embedding tools into workflows, optimizing task shifting, patient-centered features, and improved data sharing.
Conclusions:
- A digital SSED score can support GPs through integrated patient data, automated alerts, and pharmacy follow-up.
- Successful adoption requires GP workflow integration, system interoperability, and aligned incentives.
- Early stakeholder involvement is crucial to ensure digital tools meet the needs of both patients with T2D and GPs.
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