Collaboration Aims to Assess Virtual Care Method for COPD Patients

A new collaboration that includes UMass Chan Medical School and Wellinks aims to examine the efficacy of a virtual care method for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using patient-reported outcomes, healthcare utilization, and total medical expenditure as measurements.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 16 million Americans suffer from COPD. The CDC also stated that this number is likely higher as many have yet to receive a diagnosis and, therefore, treatment.

Umass Chan Medical School and Wellinks plan to work together to launch a new program called Healthy at Home, which will focus on assessing the efficacy level of a virtual care solution in treating COPD and preventing acute care needs among those with the disease.

The program will enroll 100 adults with COPD, all of whom are part of a UMass Accountable Care Organization (UMMACO) and may be at risk of needing acute care. Researchers intend to evaluate the effects of the program on patient-reported outcomes over the course of six months. The program includes several elements: the Mobile Integrated Health service, the Mobile Integrated Health Dashboard, and the Wellinks virtual-first COPD management solution.

The Mobile Integrated Health service, which will focus on triage, will include a team of paramedics available 24/7, in-home medical evaluations, and treatments in consultation with a supervising physician. The Mobile Integrated Health dashboard provides individual data, including from wearable sensors and the EHR. The solution offers virtual pulmonary rehabilitation, customized health coaching, remote monitoring through connected devices, and a patient application.

"The core mission of the Program in Digital Medicine is to empower patients with health technology tools to help remove barriers to care, emphasize preventive care, and improve self-management, which are critical to improving clinical outcomes and patient quality of life," said Apurv Soni, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the Program in Digital Medicine at UMass Chan, in the press release. "We are proud to be collaborating with Wellinks on the Healthy at Home program to assess the true impact of integrating virtual management into the care journey of people living with COPD, and to continue finding ways to improve care quality while reducing unnecessary costs." 

Results of the assessment of the program are expected to be released in mid-2023.

Various studies have examined telehealth and remote patient monitoring's efficacy in treating certain conditions, and results often vary.

For example, a study from July found that remote patient monitoring (RPM) led to reduced hospitalizations, intensive care use, and lengths of stay among patients battling COVID-19. The RPM program allowed patients to track symptoms through mobile applications and provided education on COVID-19.

But another study published in May found that RPM had no beneficial effect on reducing hospitalization and mortality among heart failure patients discharged from the hospital.