A virtual diabetes appointment can be convenient, but convenience does not automatically make the visit productive. The most useful virtual visits often begin before the video call or telephone conversation—with a little preparation.
Diabetes Canada supports virtual care as an option that can reduce barriers related to distance, geography, time, and travel, while emphasizing that patient preference, equitable access, and appropriate in-person care still matter. Its guidance recommends shared decision-making about whether care should be virtual or in person and notes that some assessments still need face-to-face follow-up.1
The goal is therefore not to make every diabetes visit virtual. It is to make an appropriate virtual visit as useful as possible.
Gather your glucose information before the appointment
If you use a continuous glucose monitor, glucose meter, insulin pump, or connected diabetes device, check whether your care team can access its data before your appointment.
Do not worry about memorizing every reading. A concise report that shows trends is usually more useful than trying to describe hundreds of numbers from memory.
For people using CGM, standardized reporting can make this easier. The ADA's 2026 diabetes-technology guidance recommends standardized CGM and connected-device reports, including a concise summary, so clinicians and patients can review glucose patterns consistently.2
Before the visit, note anything unusual that the graph may not explain by itself: illness, travel, changes in sleep, missed medication, new physical activity, a shift in meal timing, or another major change in routine.
Data gains meaning from context.
Have an accurate medication list
Keep a current list of medications and how you actually take them. Include diabetes medications, insulin if applicable, and other prescriptions that your clinician has asked you to review.
If the prescription says one thing but you have been taking it differently, say so. This is useful clinical information, not something to hide.
Also mention practical issues. Are you forgetting a dose because of your schedule? Are side effects making a medication difficult to take? Is cost or access creating a problem? A care plan that works on paper but cannot work in daily life deserves another conversation.
Diabetes Canada's virtual-care recommendations emphasize maintaining the same essential diabetes assessments and follow-up standards whether care is delivered virtually or in person.1
Bring a few home measurements when appropriate
Depending on what your health-care professional has asked you to monitor, useful information may include home blood-pressure readings, weight trends, glucose reports, and observations about your feet.
Diabetes Canada recommends supporting home assessment where feasible while continuing appropriate in-person visits for activities such as blood-pressure measurement and equipment calibration, foot assessment, immunizations, and other examinations that cannot simply be replaced by a screen.1
A virtual visit should complement—not erase—the physical parts of diabetes care.
Diabetes Canada's broader ABCDESSS framework also reminds patients and clinicians that diabetes care extends beyond glucose to blood pressure, cholesterol and cardiovascular risk, eating and exercise, complication screening, smoking cessation, self-management, stress, and barriers to care.3
Write down your top three questions
A virtual visit can move quickly. Instead of hoping you remember everything, write your most important questions down first.
Useful questions may include:
- “Do you see a repeated pattern in my CGM data that we should address?”
- “What should I focus on before our next appointment?”
- “Is my current glucose target still appropriate?”
- “Do I need any laboratory tests or an in-person examination?”
- “Could any of my symptoms be related to medication?”
- “Is there anything in my home readings that needs earlier follow-up?”
Prioritizing three questions does not mean you are limited to three. It simply makes sure the issues that matter most to you are not left until the final minute.
End the visit with a shared plan
Before disconnecting, make sure you understand what happens next.
What should you continue? What, if anything, has changed? Do you need laboratory work? Is an in-person visit needed? When is your next follow-up? What symptoms or glucose patterns should prompt you to seek help sooner?
Diabetes Canada emphasizes patient involvement and shared decision-making in virtual care, rather than treating telemedicine as a one-way transfer of instructions.1
Digital care works best when technology reduces friction and helps people communicate—not when the technology becomes the focus of the appointment.
Your glucose report, home measurements, medication list, and questions are tools for that conversation. Bring the information that helps tell the story of what has happened since your last visit, then use the appointment to decide with your care team what should happen next.
Virtual care is not appropriate for every situation. Seek urgent or emergency care when symptoms or your care plan indicate that immediate assessment is needed.