Acceptability of the Consumer-Centric u-Health Services for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

We developed and implemented a system for u-health (ubiquitous healthcare) services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and studied the level of acceptability by the patients in the context of home visits and telephone education. To determine its effectiveness, the u-health service system was used for 2 years with 144 COPD patients in a clinical environment. Patients were provided with the u-healthcare service. Patients with COPD were highly satisfied with the u-healthcare service, which incorporated telemonitoring, teleconsultation, and tele-education along with home visits. The average acceptable fees (in USD) of the service system are as follows: u-health device, $421.28; home visit, $21.53/visit; tele-education, $0.53/min or $26.57/month; and total service fee, $44.26/month. COPD patients accepted u-health services with a high satisfaction rate, promising a new paradigm of consumer-centric healthcare services.