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PRSB publishes information sharing standards to support diabetes management

The Professionals Record Standards Body (PRSB) has released new information sharing standards to support diabetes management.

The development of the standards comes in response to “information about a person’s diabetes… not all being digitally shared between the different professionals involved in their care,” PRSB states. The body also notes “inconsistency in use of codes to record information related to a diabetes diagnosis” and “a number of similar SNOMED CT codes, where it is not clear which codes should be used”.

In response, a Diabetes Information Record Standard and a Diabetes Self-Management Standard have been produced to support the right information flows between services.

The Diabetes Information Record Standard defines the information needed to support a person’s diabetes management, that is relevant to the diabetes care of the person and should be shared between different care providers.

The Diabetes Self-Management Standard defines information that could be recorded by the person (or their carer) at home (either using digital apps or medical devices) and shared with health and care professionals.

Maureen Baker, Chair, PRSB, commented on the development: “Without standards in place, information is sporadic and unclear, making the professionals’ job harder to do and with longer delays. With PRSB’s standards in place, they can access this critical information for diabetes care wherever and whenever it is required.”

Professor Partha Kar, National Specialty Adviser on Diabetes at NHS England, added: “Improving management of diabetes is one of the most important aims in healthcare globally and healthtech has an enormous role to play in delivering better care. These new standards are fundamental to putting the right data in the hands of individuals and professionals. We envisage all industry colleagues taking on board what is needed for data sharing to help improve care.”

To view the standards, please click here.