Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;59(1):132-144.
doi: 10.1080/02770903.2020.1830413. Epub 2020 Oct 16.

Going mobile with primary care: smartphone-telemedicine for asthma management in young urban adults (TEAMS)

Jennifer R Mammen  1 , Judith D Schoonmaker  2 , James Java  3 , Jill Halterman  4 , Marc N Berliant  5 , Amber Crowley  5 , Marina Reznik  6 , Jonathan M Feldman  6   7 , Robert J Fortuna  4   5 , Sean M Frey  4 , Kelsey Turgeon  1 , Ashley Philibert  1 , Kimberly Arcoleo  1
Affiliations
Free article

Going mobile with primary care: smartphone-telemedicine for asthma management in young urban adults (TEAMS)

Jennifer R Mammen et al. J Asthma. 2022 Jan.
Free article

Abstract

Background: The majority of adults with persistent asthma have chronically uncontrolled disease and interventions to improve outcomes are needed. We evaluated the efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of a multi-component smartphone-telemedicine program (TEAMS) to deliver asthma care remotely, support provider adherence to asthma management guidelines, and improve patient outcomes.

Methods: TEAMS utilized: (1) remote symptom monitoring, (2) nurse-led smartphone-telemedicine with self-management training for patients, and (3) Electronic medical record-based clinical decision support software. Adults aged 18-44 (N = 33) and primary care providers (N = 4) were recruited from a safety-net practice in Upstate New York. Asthma control, quality of life, and FEV1 were measured at 0, 3 and 6 months. Acceptability was assessed via survey and end-of-study interviews. Paired t-test and mixed effects modeling were used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on asthma outcomes.

Results: At baseline, 80% of participants had uncontrolled asthma. By 6-months, 80% classified as well-controlled. Improvements in control and quality of life were large (d = 1.955, d = 1.579). FEV%pred increased 4.2% (d = 1.687) with the greatest gain in males, smokers, and lower educational status. Provider adherence to national guidelines increased from 43.3% to 86.7% (CI = 22.11-64.55) and patient adherence to medication increased from 45.58% to 85.29% (CI = 14.79-64.62). Acceptability was 95.7%; In follow up interviews, 29/30 patients and all providers indicated TEAMS worked better than usual care, supported effective self-management, and reduced symptoms over time, which led to greater self-efficacy and motivation to manage asthma.

Discussion: Based on these findings, we conclude that smartphone telemedicine could substantially improve clinical asthma management, adherence to guidelines, and patient outcomes.

Keywords: Asthma; clinical asthma management; clinical decision support; patient education; self-management; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer