Western Sydney Diabetes has rolled out a mobile diabetes management application from Taiwan as part of its patient engagement digitisation. 

A centre led by the Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD), WSD has established an automated patient engagement programme with Health2Sync. It features the Health2Sync app which provides personalised lifestyle suggestions on managing blood sugar levels based on near real-time health data. 

The app simplifies data collection and analysis, integrating with various devices, including glucometers, blood pressure monitors, weight scales, fitness trackers, and major continuous glucose monitor brands. 

Citing its own data, Health2Sync claims that its average users record a 2% drop in HbA1c from an initial 7% level three months after using the app. 

The launch of this digital programme, which also delivers targeted educational content, reminders, and encouragement to users, follows a four-year pilot by WSLHD establishing a virtual care model for gestational and type 2 diabetes. 

WHY IT MATTERS

WSD caters to the "diabetes hotspot" of New South Wales; around one in eight adults in western Sydney has diabetes, with the number continuously rising over the past decade, according to NSW Health.

Through its latest digital patient engagement programme, WSD intends to help patients take more control of their condition by enabling self-monitoring of blood glucose levels. 

The programme, which is part of WSD's initiatives to digitise clinical management, is also expected to lift some burden off general practitioners and allied health professionals supporting diabetic patients. 

THE LARGER TREND

The Taiwanese startup Health2Sync has been involved in national and regional projects in Asia to digitise and enable the self-management of diabetes. In the past four years, it has been working with Sanofi across the continent on digitising insulin management.   

Most recently, it was chosen alongside Abbott by the Health Promotion Board of Singapore on a digital health coaching programme guiding people at risk of diabetes to manage their blood sugar.