More and more patients with chronic conditions like asthma have adopted remote care and digital health tools to self-manage their conditions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey results from a recent Propeller Health study to be presented at the 2022 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting found that the majority of patients (68.7%) find their use of remote care helpful. Of the 441 patients surveyed, about one third of patients reported that they connected with their asthma providers through video visits and messaging services.
This uptake in digital therapeutic and remote care adoption by patients has potentially significant benefits for clinicians as well.
In another Propeller Health study to be presented at the AAAAI Annual Meeting, Propeller found that monthly surveys conducted through its digital health app may be a feasible way to capture user-reported acute care events, potentially supporting early prediction of symptom worsening in patients with asthma.
In these surveys, people with asthma were asked to self-report whether they had received any additional treatment for worsening asthma symptoms in the last 30 days. Additional treatments could have included a prescription for a steroid, an emergency department visit or a hospitalization.
By combining insights from inhaler use trends – data that is passively captured with inhaler sensors in the Propeller platform – and patient self-reported exacerbations, clinicians may be able to better review and adjust patients’ treatments, possibly reducing the risk of future exacerbations.
Reducing exacerbation risk remains a primary goal of asthma care and these findings provide supporting evidence that digital health tools have the potential to enhance care through clinician enablement. With patients now more satisfied with and willing to use remote tools for asthma self-management, clinicians and care teams have increasing opportunities to leverage remote care and digital health tools for more timely and effective interventions.
If you’re interested in learning more about all the ways Propeller can benefit your patients and care teams, email us at partnerships@propellerhealth.com.