Tag: COPD Foundation

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The COPD Foundation, a patient advocacy and research organization, and Wellinks, a digital health care company that offers an integrated, virtual COPD disease management solution, have partnered to recruit eligible patients for a new study through the foundation’s COPD Patient-Powered Research Network. Researchers plan to enroll between 100 and 150 adults with COPD for a 24-week prospective research study of the Wellinks solution. “We are passionate about ensuring...

WASHINGTON - COPD360coach, an interactive website and mobile app, could be a breakthrough in the way COPD patients are treated in the U.S., says Craig Kephart, executive director of the COPD Foundation.Launched by the COPD Foundation and ViiMed, a health IT company, the software uses modules comprised of online videos and courses taught by health professionals and COPD patients to coach, educate and monitor the wellness of other COPD patients.“We're providing peer-to-peer health coaching,”...

WASHINGTON - The COPD Foundation has launched StopCOPD, an app that allows patients to more easily participate in the COPD Patient-Powered Research Network, a study looking to enroll ore than 75,000 individuals with COPD. StopCOPD uses Apple's new ResearchKit software, which enables participants to complete tasks and submit surveys directly from the app, according to a press release. In October, the COPD Foundation also released a patient coaching app.

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - Sunovion Pharmaceuticals and the COPD Foundation have launched a new video series, Reel COPD, to share the first-hand stories of patients and their caregivers as they cope with a chronic, progressive disease. The first three videos in the series are now live on COPDTogether.com, and build on existing tools and resources available to patients and caregivers. Sunovion and the COPD Foundation initiated COPD Together in 2013 to empower and educate caregivers about managing COPD....

WASHINGTON - ICD-10 went into effect Oct. 1, but it will be several days, if not a month, before the impact of the new code system sets in.“It will take a couple of weeks before we have the full picture of ICD-10 implementation because very few health care providers file claims on the same day a medical service is given,” said Sean Cavanaugh, CMS deputy administrator and director, in a blog post. “Most providers batch their claims and submit them every few days.”Once submitted,...

WASHINGTON - People for Quality Care is recruiting patients for the COPD Foundation's new COPD Patient-Powered Research Network. The network's purpose is to give COPD patients a place to share how the disease has impacted their lives and to support each other. Information from the network, which is stored in a secure database, will be used for research purposes and to better understand the disease. “As someone living with COPD, I consider the COPD PPRN a huge step forward in terms of the level...

WASHINGTON and WATERLOO, Iowa - The COPD Foundation has partnered with People for Quality Care, the advocacy division of The VGM Group, to protect access to home oxygen therapy for Medicare beneficiaries.The partnership will better position the two groups to collect data on the access issues created by competitive bidding, and share it with CMS and Congress.“By collecting patient stories, the COPD Foundation and People for Quality Care are demonstrating that, while competitive bidding...

WASHINGTON - More than half of COPD patients don't fully understand their disease or how to manage it, according to a new survey from the COPD Foundation.The two-part Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Experience (COPE) surveyed both patients and physicians.Nearly 62% of patients said they don't know much about COPD exacerbations—a leading cause of hospitalization in the United States. Another 16% said they don't know what an exacerbation is at all, and 60% said they don't have a plan for dealing...

WASHINGTON - The COPD Foundation “takes great umbrage” with a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which said that the advocacy groups it interviewed for the report expressed no widespread concern over beneficiary access under the competitive bidding program. “The COPD Foundation has contended for some time that CMS should exempt oxygen from the DME competitive bidding program,” the foundation said in a recent release. “Had the GAO interviewed the COPD...