Bryan Ross, MD, FRCPC, MSc (Epidemiology), MSc (Physiology)
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montreal, QC
COPD is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPDs) account for one of the highest rates of hospital admissions among all major chronic illnesses. Given pandemic-associated challenges in providing excellent chronic disease care, COPD guidelines and reports have placed a renewed emphasis on remote and virtual management methods. Modalities can range from telephone- or video-based clinical visits to sophisticated near-continuous recording of vital sign data using ‘wearable’ biometric sensors.
Given the burden of COPD and AECOPDs on patients and health systems alike, and given the direct and indirect untoward effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conventional care model, stakeholders are embracing technology and its incorporation into the health care ecosystem like never before. With this comes the need for the research and clinical communities to validate, launch and operate virtual and remote monitoring platforms, within which patient confidentiality and ethical principles must be paramount.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
- Identify the barriers to excellent chronic disease management posed by recent (pandemic) and pre-existing (geographic, etc.) factors;
- Understand the advances in technology relating to virtual and remote patient management strategies in COPD; and
- Summarize the current landscape of virtual and remote clinical platforms in both the research and clinical fields, including validation, launching/maintenance and clinically relevant outcomes and guiding ethical principles.
CanMEDS Roles Addressed: Collaborator, Health Advocate, Leader, Medical Expert
