Proactive Real-Time Solution for Asthma Management

In recent years there has been an increased growth in the use of smart applications to better care and manage various medical conditions. Recent studies have concluded that the daily management via an application improves Asthma control compared to manual or paper based monitoring [1]. To this effect, this research aims to study existing Asthma applications and propose a holistic approach to Asthma care and management by developing a novel Android application that provides a real-time, multi-way communication between patients and providers (healthcare, insurance, food, drug, etc.) The current state-of-art smart applications are able to aid users send information to their physicians typically via email, but, healthcare providers still need to contact patients through traditional methods (phone, email or face-to-face appointments). Our proposed multi-way communication can eliminate phone calls, emails and appointment scheduling to save time and provide real time feedback to the patients. Furthermore, providers can monitor the health status of patients remotely by checking their patient specific journal entry and set new and/or modified action plans and also uploads those to the patient´s smart devices. Providers can also send notifications to patients even if the device is in sleep mode. In case of emergency patients are able to call 911 or find the nearest hospital and pharmacy via a pre-programmed one-click method. Our pilot evaluation at a nationally recognized HIMSS Stage 6 regional trauma center (> 500 beds) and its affiliated 20 partner clinical practices has confirmed that the proposed application has the potential to significantly improve the quality of care while reducing the overall cost of care delivery for the target population.