Impact of a digital health intervention on asthma resource utilization

Rajan Merchant, Stanley J Szefler, Bruce G Bender, Michael Tuffli, Meredith A Barrett, Rahul Gondalia, Leanne Kaye, David Van Sickle, David A Stempel, Rajan Merchant, Stanley J Szefler, Bruce G Bender, Michael Tuffli, Meredith A Barrett, Rahul Gondalia, Leanne Kaye, David Van Sickle, David A Stempel

Abstract

Digital health interventions have been associated with reduced rescue inhaler use and improved controller medication adherence. This quality improvement project assessed the benefit of these interventions on asthma-related healthcare utilizations, including hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) utilization and outpatient visits. The intervention consisted of electronic medication monitors (EMMs) that tracked rescue and controller inhaler medication use, and a digital health platform that presented medication use information and asthma control status to patients and providers. In 224 study patients, the number of asthma-related ED visits and combined ED and hospitalization events 365 days pre- to 365 days post-enrollment to the intervention significantly decreased from 11.6 to 5.4 visits (p < 0.05) and 13.4 to 5.8 events (p < 0.05) per 100 patient-years, respectively. This digital health intervention was successfully incorporated into routine clinical practice and was associated with lower rates of asthma-related hospitalizations and ED visits.

Keywords: Asthma; Delivery of health care; Digital health; Pulmonary medicine; Telemedicine.

Conflict of interest statement

The study met the criteria for an Institutional Review Broad (IRB) exemption (IRB Tracking: PRH1–18- 132) according to Copernicus Group IRB. Eligible patients accepted Propeller Heath’s Terms of Use, which informed participants of the possibility of user data being used for research publications in an aggregated, de-identified format [11].Not applicable.RM reports a one-time honorarium from Propeller Health for his participation in an advisory board meeting. SJS has served as a consultant to Aerocrine, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Daiicho Snakyo, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Propeller Health, Roche and Teva. BGB has nothing to disclose. MT, RG, LK, and DAS report salary and/or stock options from their employer, Propeller Health. MAB and DVS report grants from the California Health Care Foundation during the conduct of the study and salary and stock options from their employer, Propeller Health. In addition, they have patents pending that are related but not directly involved in this work.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Asthma-related utilization rates pre-enrollment (dark gray) and post-enrollment (light gray) in the digital health intervention

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