One of the biggest problems for patients with diabetes are microvascular (i.e., neuropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy) and macrovascular events (e.g., cardiovascular events). The American Diabetes Association recommends routine monitoring to identify patients at high risk for these complications and to prevent them from becoming a large issue for patients care. These include doing blood work, foot exams, and seeing an optometrist for screenings.
One app that is designed for patients with diabetes is Retina Risk, which is available on the iOS App store and Google Play store. This app aims to help patients identify their own personal risk scores for retinopathy, which their providers could recommend them to use. The app works by collecting health measurements like: HbA1c, Blood Pressure, Diabetes Type, Duration of Diabetes, and Gender. This data is then crunched through the Retina Risk algorithm to let the patient know their risk. The thought is that the app can then empower the patient to seek medical attention if they have not already been, and other strategies to help reduce their risk for further disease progression. It can track the patient’s progress, and let them access a chat platform, as well as refer them other support networks if they do not know who to turn to for help.