Background:
COPD and asthma are highly prevalent chronic respiratory conditions. One of the largest barriers to managing these chronic conditions is health inequality. Health inequality is a world-wide problem that leads to negative patient outcomes as it increases a patient’s morbidity and mortality, while decreasing quality of life. During COVID19, more practices became involved in remote consultations and tools which helped expand access to healthcare. With remote IT tools and consultations, patients in rural areas no longer had to worry about the logistics of getting to a primary care practice which mitigated transportation issues, transportations costs, and concerns about limited mobility. In our practice, we also found improved chronic condition management as various factors such as number of in-date reviews were dramatically increased by this expanded access to healthcare.
Aim of the case report:
IT tools embedded into our e-healthcare system allow us to engage patients previously lost to follow-up due to difficulty making it into the practice. Our practice uses validated assessment tools to enhance our chronic respiratory condition management.
Case report:
1.) Search for patients overdue a respiratory review
2.) Patients sent validated e-questionnaires via accurx
3.) Triage of responses with non-responders being contacted directly by phone
4.) Timely telemedicine reviews enabling best practice management
5.) Follow-up as required
Conclusions:
• In-date reviews of over 90% for both asthma/COPD
• Zero asthma patients with >6 SABA issues in the last 6 months need review
• Majority of 6-19 year old patients responding to the online questionnaires
• Addressed frequent exacerbations and established on appropriate preventors
• Education to support self-management including addressing inhaler technique and care plans
Our process suggests that remote tools can improve respiratory management in vulnerable groups to help reduce health inequality. Expanding access to these vulnerable populations may lead to a reduction in exacerbations, complications, and hospital admissions.
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