A new app launched by the COPD Foundation will help physicians and RTs diagnose and treat patients with chronic obstructive lung disease more easily and more effectively. The COPD Pocket Consultant Guide (PCG), a free app designed for the iPhone, uses 7 severity domains to create a diagnosis: spirometry, symptoms, exacerbations, oxygen requirements, and the presence of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and co-morbidities.
With the COPD PCG app, healthcare professionals fill in a symptoms assessment, spirometry results, and exacerbation history for each patient in order to access a therapy chart. The chart highlights further testing or therapy, stressing the importance of evaluating co-morbid conditions, according to the COPDF.
“While existing guidelines for COPD management are excellent, they are much too long for busy clinicians to use on a day-to-day basis,” said John W. Walsh, president and co-founder of the COPDF. “The COPD PCG card and app address time constraints for providers . . . The Guide will evolve to help facilitate the best possible care for COPD patients.”
In addition, the organization’s COPD PCG Online Community allows physicians and healthcare professionals to interact with one another and submit questions and comments that will help to inform future updates of the COPD PCG card and app, according to COPDF.
“Healthcare providers face three significant challenges: identify those who remain undiagnosed; ensure that those who are already diagnosed are correctly diagnosed; and make sure that those with the correct diagnosis are getting the appropriate treatment,” Walsh added.
More information, including how to download the free app, is available at the COPDF’s website.
