View Original Post on COPD Foundation
Home Telemonitoring Program in Individuals With COPD During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Pilot Study
Michael Rydberg, MD Pete Burkett, BBM Erica Johnson, PhD M. Bradley Drummond, MD, MHS
Introduction
There has been significant interest in innovative ways to improve the care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Remote patient monitoring (RPM), also called telemonitoring, is a method of health care delivery that gathers patient data outside of traditional health care settings. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has moved telemedicine to the forefront of care1,2 accelerating the need to study remote monitoring in COPD patients. RPM tools including home spirometry, pulse oximetry, and daily questionnaires have been shown to have the potential to detect acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPDs) earlier and improve patient-reported outcomes in COPD.3-7 Given the older age and numerous comorbid conditions of many COPD patients, it remains unclear if RPM interventions are feasible and acceptable by this patient population.8-12 To address this, we conducted a 12-week pilot study of a novel in-home telemonitoring system, consisting of 3components: a home spirometer, a Bluetooth®-enabled home pulse oximeter, and a tablet-based data collection system with avatar-assisted technology with the goal of determining impact on the COPD Assessment Test (CAT)13 score and adherence to device measurements. The study was designed to be conducted entirely remotely given the COVID-19 pandemic.