Impact of a Telehealth and Care Management Program for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Rationale: Improving outcomes and health resource use for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care is a priority for health systems. The Health Buddy Program, a content-driven telehealth system coupled with care management, is designed to enhance patient education, self-management, and timely access to care.Objectives: To examine the effects of the Health Buddy Program on resource use among Medicare patients with COPD who participated in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services demonstration project from 2006 to 2010.Methods: Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with COPD who enrolled in the intervention at two participating clinics were propensity-score matched to similar patients with COPD identified from a 5% random sample of Medicare patients. Difference-in-difference analyses descriptively compared the program’s effect on quarterly healthcare resource use over the 3-year study period compared with baseline. Negative binomial models estimated the association of the program...