Diabetes technology and digitalised diabetes care in the hospital: Time to act

In Germany, 304 hospitals including 74 paediatric clinics offer specialised in-patient care for people with diabetes. The majority of German diabetologists (2.521/4.267, 59%) is working in the hospital 1 . Inpatient diabetology faces multiple challenges including an insufficient awareness of the impact of diabetes on the health of patients in the inpatient setting, inconsistent diabetes therapy, procedural obstacles and a decreasing number of educating clinics in addition to and due to difficult financial conditions. The advancing digitalisation and availability of new diabetes technologies opens a new field of challenges. However, at the same time it offers the opportunity to reshape diabetes management in hospitals and solve known problems with new tools. The aim of this position paper is to outline the complex situation, variety of open issues and the special opportunities of diabetes technology and thus stimulate a discussion for a platform for diabetologists working in the inpatient sector and a holistic strategy of digitalised diabetes management to optimize and secure inpatient diabetes care.