Information systems in diabetes: in search of the holy grail in the era of evidence-based diabetes care.

The role of information systems has become increasingly important in the context of evidence-based medicine as a new decision-making paradigm, in the evolution of new forms of medical records and communication structures, and in the redesign of traditional systems of care towards planned care of chronic disease. In this review we describe the past and current forms of communication and clinical information transfer dedicated to improving the delivery of diabetes care. In particular, we describe our experience with the implementation of an electronic diabetes medical record system and specialist overview using telemedicine.