Home-based Health Management of COPD Patients

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Minnesota Health Solutions Corporation (MHS) proposes to develop and deploy a Smartphone-based tool to monitor and motivate people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to complete pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) at home. COPD is a leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure for COPD, but COPD patients who exercise even at very low levels significantly lower their risk of COPD admissions and mortality. PR is a medically supervised program forpeople with COPD and is considered an essential component of care. Yet many people are unable to attend PR in a clinical setting. The development of a system that safely allows PR in the patient home with proper monitoring and feedback will provide a significant advance in the health care of COPD patients. In Phase I, MHS will design the hardware and software components for the patient end of the system. Furthermore, MHS will establish the feasibility of this tool for use by COPD patients by conducting a pilot study at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. After feasibility is shown in Phase I a much larger study can be conducted in Phase II at Mayo. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease that makesbreathing difficult and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure for COPD. Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) can improve quality of life for patients as well as reducing hospital admissions and risk of death.