A case study examined the effectiveness of the smartphone app Asthma Ally, which connects a person with their allergist’s office and enables symptom recording.
An article in the May issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) presents the case study of a 42 year-old male patient suffering from asthma. The man used the Asthma Ally app to connect with his allergist’s office – allowing the staff to note when his asthma symptoms weren’t under control.
“Asthma Ally is unique in that when the person with asthma loads the app, they connect to their allergist’s office through a doctor portal,” said Richard Lucas, PhD, lead study author. “In the case of the patient in the study, the remote delivery of his symptom data alerted clinic staff to his poor asthma control. They brought him into the office, and following the intervention, his asthma symptoms began to improve.”
“One of the main benefits to an app like this is that for people with a chronic condition like asthma, it helps keep an eye out for changes that might indicate there’s a problem,” said allergist and ACAAI Fellow, Richard Hendershot, MD, study author. “If those suffering from asthma, along with their allergist, can address a problem while it’s still readily controlled, they might lessen the chance of an urgent care visit, or hospitalization. That saves everyone in the long run, financially as well as medically.”
