Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare partnered June 23 with digital health company Wellinks to see if the tech platform can improve the health of patients being treated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
After leaving the hospital, participants in the study will have 16 weeks of access to Wellinks' virtual pulmonary rehabilitation program that includes personalized health coaching and remote monitoring through connected devices. The research will compare their hospital readmission rates and other outcomes to a control data set from Hartford's EHR.
"Although COPD is the third leading cause of death by disease in the United States, estimated to cost $49 billion in care annually, innovation in COPD care has trailed other disease states," said Syed Hadi, MD, a Hartford HealthCare hospitalist, in a Wellinks news release. "Acute exacerbations of COPD often result in hospitalization, and a quarter of patients will be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days."
Dr. Hadi added: "This is an important step, as together, we can reduce readmissions and move healthcare forward."