by Tim Bredrup
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and eResearchTechnology, Inc. (ERT), recently announced the launch of their joint venture CLEAR Study, a program to help patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD is a progressive and chronic inflammatory disease of airways that typically occurs in middle-aged and older patients, and according to the World Health Organization, it will become the world’s third most common cause of death by 2020.
To identify symptoms and concerns early, ERT and UCLA will be providing enhanced services to help the patients outside the physician’s office and beyond the normal process of care. The twelve month study is specifically designed to test whether remote health monitoring will (1) be feasible in patients with moderate-severe COPD, (2) improve treatment adherence, symptoms, activity level and quality of life, and (3) enable early detection of COPD exacerbations, facilitating early interventions and reducing health related expenditures.
The program brings together home based spirometry, activity monitoring, adherence scoring, and self-reported symptom monitoring, all enabled through technology. 200 patients are expected to be recruited starting this month and patient outcomes will be reported in late 2013.
press release | www.ert.com | David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
