What is COPD anyway? As you breathe, the air that you take in goes through the tubes that are in your lungs - the airways - to a few million tiny sacs for the air. In lungs that are healthy, these airways stay open and allow for the sacs of air to be filled. Then, the air will quickly go out.
COPD is a condition that makes it difficult for the air to travel through the airways and to go in and out of the sacs.
There are two major issues in patients with COPD. One is chronic bronchitis. This is where increased mucus production and coughing occurs due to the airways being inflamed. This condition is said to be chronic if it last for most of the days for three months out of the year and for 2 years in a row. Emphysema is what is associated with the air sacs becoming damaged and when the smallest airways have collapsed.
Most patients will not want to remain in a hospital setting for any longer than is absolutely necessary. According to Medscape.com, errors made in the hospital are the third leading cause of people dying in the US. Additionally, hospital infections are the fifth. Having to go into a nursing home is also not a popular choice. Most of the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers would prefer to be in their own homes but they are afraid that the remote monitoring technology that we have today is not advanced enough to alert you to potential risks and to alert the medical apps developers before a disastrous health event occurs.
Healthcare Apps for Patients with COPD
Anyone who suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or asthma should take note of their symptoms along with any triggers and medicines used in a diary. Because this can be a major hassle, few people actually do this. The good news is that specialist healthcare app developers have been working on a solution for this. There is a device made by Propeller Health that fits right on to your inhaler and then wirelessly syncs with an app on one of your smart devices to record all of the data. Once this data is collected, patients are given feedback and even a bit of education regarding how to improve their COPD status or asthma control. This data can also be shared with the healthcare provider of the patient.
COPD Navigator
COPD navigator is another mhealth app that was created for people who suffer from COPD. It gives you a set of tools that is similar. Patients who use this app will be able to track their medications and symptoms. They can then share that information with their health care provider and learn more about their condition from the curated material that is found in the app. This app for COPD patients will also integrate some environmental data such as allergen levels and information on the air quality in order to help users of the app to gain an understanding of how each of these factors impacts the symptoms they have so that they will be able to take the appropriate steps for prevention.
This particular app for COPD will also be made available as an enterprise app version that will be branded iBreathe. This version of the app is meant to be deployed by a disease management firm called SuperCare Health. The data gathered with this app will be automatically fed into he HER at SuperCare so that the case managers there will be able to look for signs of worsening in order for them to intervene pre-emptively.
