Aeri Health and the Lung Association have announced a partnership as well as the launch of a mobile app called the Aeri COPD app.
The Aeri COPD app was developed by Aeri Health through its app platform that targets several chronic diseases, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, BC Children’s Hospital and the Child and Family Research Institute, with support from Grand Challenges Canada. The app will allow patients to track symptoms and medication adherence through their phones, save treatment schedules and overall monitoring of lifestyle choices that can be potentially harming their health status. It will include clinically relevant questionnaires to keep track of symptoms, well-being and behavioral trends that can posteriorly be identified as triggers for exacerbations.
All this health information is stored in the phone and can be shared with a clinician and other health personnel in order to improve clinical decisions, treatment scheduling, and areas in the patient’s life that need improvement, in order to improve overall health status. Importantly, the app features medication reminders, which will address a major concern in COPD patients, as Dr. J. Mark FitzGerald, Professor of Medicine and Head of UBC’s Respiratory Division explains in a press release: “Unfortunately many COPD patients take as little as 40% of their prescribed medications, which impacts their ability to manage their symptoms but more importantly makes them more likely to have exacerbations.”
Looks like a great idea.