COPDPass- Patient Expertise Just A Breath Away

Problem

Background:Patient empowerment is a world-wide emerging health paradigm. This promises improved medical outcomes at lower costs (Chatzimarkakis, 2010) through patients’ increased understanding of their conditions and active involvement in managing these. Based on personal observations that patients in a primary care setting frequently lack knowledge of aspects surrounding their COPD diagnosis, the authors set out to create the first mobile App of its kind to address this. Aim: To develop a free of charge App that supports patient involvement in disease management.

Approach

Methods:Key diagnostic and management criteria for COPD were obtained from international guidelines (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2015). An interactive dynamic framework for the App was set out. It was created using the Ionic framework for Apache Cordova and was released for the Android operating system, with releases for iOS planned. Data from an App evaluation survey will be presented.

Findings

Results:The App contains user-friendly interactive data fields for the uploading of personal and physician provided data, educational material, and background information. It empowers patients to carry personalised up-to-date information surrounding their COPD diagnosis with them at all times. The App contains educational features and potentially generates important alerts (e.g. flu jab, COPD review). Key feature is the COPD Passport that portrays all relevant personal parameters at a glance.

Consequences

Conclusions:To our knowledge, this is the first App supporting patient self-management in COPD whilst containing a patient-clinician interface (COPD Passport). Clinical benefits are expected for patients (e.g. toolkit to become active patient experts, efficient use of specialist appointments when baseline information is readily available, optimal emergency care) and clinicians alike (information available at a glance saves time, aids decision making and tailored care provision). Future developments include expansion of the educational materials and direct communication between primary care computer programmes and the App.