Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, Sleep Disordered Breathing, Neuromuscular Diseases
Conditions
Brief summary
The Hypercapnia Telemedicine Outreach Program (E-TOUCH Study) aims to utilize telemedicine technology, as well as emergency medical services (EMS) home visits to address the problem with poor follow-up and compliance among Einstein's hypercapnic patients. The hypothesis is that reaching out to the subjects' homes will allow more consistent healthcare delivery, increase healthcare efficiency and compliance with therapy, and overall decrease acute decompensated states / hypercapnic respiratory failure, decreasing ED visits and hospitalization.
Detailed description
Hypercapnic respiratory failure is a prevalent medical problem, comprising a substantial number of ED visits and readmissions. The target population that are at high risk for developing hypercapnia are patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep disordered breathing (SDB) overlapping with COPD, and patients with neuromuscular disorders. These patients are commonly managed in the progressive care units or the intensive care unit for extended periods of time, which can over-utilize health systems resources. Einstein Medical Center's patient population includes multiple low-income communities / neighborhoods. Their educational background varies and constant education and counseling is an integral part of the treatment plan. These patients are particularly vulnerable due to a lack of geographic access and difficulty contacting healthcare providers via phone. Some of the patients may not be able to afford co-pays for clinic visits or are not able to follow up with a physician. In addition, patients treated with non-invasive ventilation in the hospital and require home therapy either never receive the device or are sub-optimally trained in its appropriate utilization. These patients may also be morbidly obese with mobility issues, which is another obstacle preventing patients from following up with their providers. Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy/ non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) are effective treatments to avoid acute hypercapnic respiratory failure; however, low compliance and poor follow-up are often recurring issues. These high-risk patients present in the emergency department acutely hypercapnic and encephalopathic with subsequent ICU admission and mechanical ventilation.This Telemedicine Outreach Program aims to utilize E-touch devices (Vivify-Go) in collaboration with home visits by EMS (Emergency medical services) to improve compliance and the efficiency of healthcare delivery. These efforts will hopefully lead to a decrease in acute decompensated respiratory states and hospital readmission rates.
Interventions
OTHERVivify
A telemedicine kit will (Vivify) which will obtain daily biometrics (vital signs) and care plans. These are all monitored by the Pulmonary team remotely via an online portal. The telemedicine system has a set-up for alerts whenever there are clinical concerns (vital signs out of parameters), or non-use of the Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). This system allows for video conferencing between the Pulmonary team (physician, respiratory therapist, nurse) to troubleshoot issues, and increase NIPPV compliance.
OTHEREMS
Emergency medical service scheduled home visits for face to face troubleshooting of the NIPPV, environmental check and end-tidal CO2.
Sponsors
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Statisticians will be receiving de-identified data
Intervention model description
Randomized Controlled Trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adult patients \> 18 years of age * Evidence of hypercapnia (PCO2 ≥ 45mmHg) secondary to COPD-OSA overlap, OHS, Neuromuscular disease / weakness * Requiring NIV / NIPPV outpatient * Ability to operate a smart device / tablet * Informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Non-English or Non-Spanish- speaking (device videos and surveys are available in English or Spanish only) * Patients unable to give consent * Pregnant women * Prisoners * Patients \<18 years of age * Patient already on NIPPV/ CPAP at home and compliant on therapy * Significant non-pulmonary conditions (CHF with EF \< 40%), Pulmonary hypertension with PASP\> 60 mmGH, severe valvular heart disease, end-stage renal disease or end-stage liver disease. * Patients without health insurance * Residing out of state (Pennsylvania) * Patients with current or history of drug / narcotic dependence
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day ED and Hospital readmission Rate | 30 days | Patients are followed from enrollment for the next 30 days. We will compare rate of re-admissions between the 2 parallel intervention arms, and check the p-value |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SF-12 questionnaire | every 2 weeks for duration of 6 weeks | The SF-12 questionnaire gives an assessment score of subject's mental and physician functioning and overall health-related quality of life. We will compare scores of subjects in the parallel intervention groups |
| NIV compliance | 6 weeks | This is a YES or NO determination of NIV compliance using the CMS (Centers of Medicare and Medicaid) criteria of at least 4hrs use of NIV per day, at least 70% of a 30-day period. We will compare the number of compliant against non-compliant subjects in the 2 parallel intervention groups |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed