Grant: Team Grant: Personalized Health

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects the lives of millions of Canadians. Patients with COPD often experience 'lung attacks' (worsening of symptoms, also known as exacerbations). Besides childbirth, a COPD lung attack is the number one reason for being hospitalized in Canada. Current COPD treatment guidelines are based on treating the "average patient". Previous research has shown that clinical prediction tools that consider each patient's unique characteristics can significantly improve the accuracy of treatment decisions. It is also known that proper communication of risks and benefits of treatments can help patients make better decisions about their health. The use of sophisticated clinical prediction tools has become easier with the availability of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), which now routinely collect a lot of relevant information about each patient. We propose to tap into the power EHR to improve the prediction of lung attacks and communication of risk to patients. This is a timely project because major health providers in British Columbia will soon be using a linked EHR system. In this project, we will validate a recently developed lung attack prediction tool for integration within EHRs. We will work with patients, doctors, and health administrators to integrate the tool into clinical practice such that it is easy to use for doctors and is understandable to patients. We will conduct a randomized clinical trial of the resulting shared decision-making tool at two major hospitals, to examine how it impacts prescription patterns and patient-reported and clinical outcomes. We will perform an economic evaluation to explore the 'value for money' potential of this tool. This research has the potential to significantly improve the care for COPD patients. By connecting researchers, patients, care providers, and health administrators, this team project can open the door for the use of clinical prediction tools for many other health conditions.