COPDF launches pocket consultant guide iPhone app for effective diagnosis, therapy of COPD

The COPD Foundation (COPDF) announces today the launch of its COPD Pocket Consultant Guide (PCG) iPhone app, a practical tool designed to facilitate easier, more effective diagnosis and therapy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) during daily clinical care. In addition, the associated 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.

“The Guide will evolve to help facilitate the best possible care for COPD patients.”

"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," says John W. Walsh, president and co-founder, 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."

The COPD PCG is based on seven severity domains: 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 and/or therapy, stressing the importance of evaluating co-morbid conditions.

"The COPD PCG card and app address time constraints for providers, and that some of the more complex issues related to the illness cannot be discussed at length with the patient," Walsh adds. "The Guide will evolve to help facilitate the best possible care for COPD patients."

Source: COPD Foundation