COPD Foundation and ViiMed® Launch COPD360coach

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The COPD Foundation and ViiMed announced the launch of COPD360coach this week at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Amsterdam. COPD360coach is the brainchild of a Crowdshaped event co-hosted by the COPD Foundation and Novartis Pharmaceuticals back in early June. The collaborative effort convened a diverse range of mindsets, knowledge backgrounds and experiences in order to enhance patient-centered care for those affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a respiratory disease affecting approximately 30 million Americans and is the third leading cause of death in United States. 

In order to bring the ideas from the open-thinking session to fruition, the COPD Foundation, the only U.S. healthcare nonprofit dedicated to preventing and curing COPD, conducted a nationwide technology search. They selected the innovative team at ViiMed, the leader in asynchronous telehealth and care coordination, to develop a solution combining what was derived from Crowdshaped into one, cohesive platform. Together, they are offering an exceptional platform for Health Systems and Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) to deploy to their patients in an effort to help patients better manage their disease. 

Having been eagerly awaited since the project's conception in mid-July, COPD360coach is an interactive website and mobile application for health coaching, health education and wellness monitoring for patients with COPD. The platform complements and enhances healthcare organizations' existing care management solutions by enabling a coordinated and asynchronous peer-coaching infrastructure. This approach further guides empowerment of people with COPD utilizing educational modules comprised of online videos and courses taught by health professionals and real COPD patients, all while providing an extended care coordination backbone for the Health System or ACO.

"We are so excited to bring COPD360coach to people with COPD. All the terrific ideas that emerged from Crowdshaped are being put into action. Collaborating with ViiMed team has truly amplified these ideas, and the ViiMed technology platform is the perfect venue for our innovation to come to life. ViiMed's outside-looking-in approach to virtual care will not only help make the lives of people with COPD better, but also enable healthcare organizations to scale and personalize patient empowerment," said John Walsh, President and Co-Founder of the COPD Foundation.

When asked to discuss specifics around the Foundation's COPD360coach, ViiMed's CEO, Phil Newman, said, "COPD Foundation's existing initiatives, COPD360social and its COPD Patient-Powered Research Network (COPD PPRN), are making a difference today for thousands of people with COPD and our team at ViiMed is honored to extend that effort by bringing the care delivery element, COPD360coach, to life. To drive empowerment for a person with COPD, or anyone with a chronic disease, we need to personalize the on-going relationships between the care team and the person with COPD, especially in the virtual environment. The connections between everyone – loved-ones, peer coaches, care managers, nurse practitioners or physicians – needs to be personal, making every interaction meaningful and further guiding behavior change." He continued by adding the importance of enabling Health Systems and ACOs to extend this experience to every person with COPD, "COPD360coach scales care teams through its asynchronous video-centric approach. Together, the Foundation and ViiMed have the opportunity to facilitate Health Systems and ACOs helping so many more people with COPD, and we are going to work hard to see that happen."

Personalized interactions support a person with COPD, while COPD360coach's layered coordination capabilities help drive better outcomes by spotting trends before unfavorable results occur. "Being a person with COPD and a peer-coach, I am so excited to see the COPD360coach approach in action. Yes, the healthcare community needs to track outcomes and data along the journey, and COPD360coach will obviously do that through devices, education and other quantifiable methods, but to center engagement around personalized relationships between providers, peer-coaches and persons with COPD in this unique way will strengthen the necessary bond that truly changes behavior or provide that timely reinforcement outlet when it's needed," said Karen Erickson, the Associate Executive Director of Community Engagement at the Alpha-1 Foundation.

"We are very excited to be able to offer this innovative approach to managing COPD to the healthcare community. The COPD Foundation is striving to integrate technology into care plans while at the same time retaining a personal touch.  COPD360coach synthesizes best practices with clear, informative and personalized coaching," said Walsh.  He continued, "I am pleased that through our collaboration with ViiMed we can propel our mission to improving the lives of those living with this devastating disease."

About the COPD Foundation
The COPD Foundation's mission is to prevent and cure chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and improve the lives of all people affected by COPD. The Foundation's activities focus on achieving these results through research, education and advocacy programs.  To learn more about the COPD Foundation, please visit www.copdfoundation.org.

About ViiMed^®
ViiMed^®, a leader in Virtual Health Care Delivery Systems, is a rapidly growing privately held, D.C.-based company. The team is dedicated to guided-patient empowerment at-the-home, improving financial and health outcomes for health systems, ACOs and provider groups.  We believe in building stronger 1:1 relationships between patients and their physicians creating significant value in care and health outcomes. To learn more about ViiMed, please visit viimed.com.

SOURCE ViiMed

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