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Transforming Global Public Health Using Connected Medicines

Van Sickle D, Barrett MA.

Respiratory Drug Delivery 2018. Volume 1, 2018: 61-70.

Abstract:

The growing adoption of connected inhalers and their companion digital experiences present new opportunities for public health. As a decentralized network of devices, they collect an expanding quantity of information about the daily use of medications that can help inform applied public health efforts against chronic respiratory disease. These data streams complement the traditional top-down surveillance approaches by making patterns of disease activity that were previously unobservable, visible. With this information, epidemiologists and public health officials can better identify where, when and among whom respiratory symptoms occur, locate clusters of exacerbations, target public health interventions to reduce morbidity, gather new clues about the determinants and origins of the disease, and promote the quality of clinical care. In this article, we summarize some of the opportunities and limitations provided by networked drug delivery devices to advance global respiratory population health. Learnings from a crowd-sourced, community-based respiratory disease program in Louisville, Kentucky, will be discussed to demonstrate the potential of digital health to facilitate public health.