Abstract
Objectives: The patient-physician axis of communication is critical for effective monitoring and treatment of COPD. Our objective was to characterize the current role of technology in patient/physician communication and identify patient preferences for this interaction.
Methods: We surveyed 100 subjects in the U.S. with COPD; questions focused on patients' technology use and preferences for communicating with their physician.
Results: Subjects ranged in age from 34 to 86 years and were 55% female. 39% owned a smartphone and 41% reported using the internet daily or weekly. Most subjects (65%) reported that when they track or monitor their disease, they share their results with their physician. Subjects reported that doing online research about their disease might lead them to ask more questions about medication (46%), treatment options (45%), and new technologies to help manage their disease (34%). Over half of subjects (52%) reported that they always understand information their physicians share with them, but of those who require clarification, 54% call their physician, while others ask family and friends (35%), use internet research (28%), or wait until their next clinical visit (24%). Most subjects preferred a phone call from their physician (91%) if they needed to be contacted between visits, rather than a text message (19%) or email (17%).
Conclusions: Most subjects with COPD are already sharing their results from tracking and monitoring their disease with their physician, and prefer the telephone for between-visit communication. Programs seeking to improve patient-physician communication with technology can draw from this baseline knowledge to identify potential areas for intervention.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015