Early experiences of telehealth monitoring for patients with COPD and implementation of person-centred care plans

Abstract

Aims: The authors share their early experiences of developing and implementing a telehealth service for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), through a collaborative approach. The article will explore the process of implementing telehealth service in a local care community team, identifying opportunities for improving care delivery and person-centred care. Discussion: The initial feedback and thoughts of both patients and healthcare professionals were obtained. Such feedback included patient’s health insights, which helped improve risk assessment and personalised parameter settings. Conclusions: To-date, there has been a lack of robust evidence for the clinical benefits of telehealth. However, the feedback from staff and patients using telehealth was positive in several areas. Person-centred care plans also helped provide greater insight into patient’s health goals, thereby streamlining care.