Design and implementation of home automated telemanagement in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The Internet-based home automated telemanagement (HAT) system has been designed to support a multi-disciplinary approach in patient self-management which includes regular patient assessment, disease-specific education, control of patient compliance with treatment plans, implementation of health behavior change models and social support both for patients and caregivers. The goals of this project were: (1) To refine the HAT program to fully implement the multidisciplinary model for telemanagement of COPD patients; (2) To evaluate in a pilot study feasibility and acceptance of HAT by COPD patients. The COPD HAT interface can be operated by a mouse, keyboard or voice. Specific features have been introduced into presentation and navigation of the HAT home unit to accommodate for possible limitations in vision, motion or cognition by the potential HAT users. Feasibility evaluation showed that the COPD patients were able to use the COPD HAT system successfully regardless of their age, education or prior experience in using computers.