COPD digital diagnostic service introduced to reduce waiting times and allow earlier provision of preventative interventions
A new digital service which will help speed-up diagnosis of the respiratory disorder COPD and cut waiting times for treatment has been introduced by Scotland’s biggest health board.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an inflammatory condition which blocks airflow from the lungs, causing breathing difficulties.
It affects around 140,000 people in Scotland and is the second most common reason for emergency hospital admissions.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is using technology to support improvements in the COPD diagnostic pathway and give patients earlier access to risk-reducing treatments.
The new digital tools have been introduced as part of the ongoing POLARIS project, with NHSGGC’s respiratory innovation team working within the West of Scotland Innovation Hub in collaboration with AstraZeneca to prevent COPD lung attacks through early interventions.
Increased capacity provided by the POLARIS project has already resulted in a significant reduction in waiting times for NHSGGC’s direct spirometry pathway, with the number of people waiting over a year for an appointment falling from 15 per cent to 3 per cent in 12 months.
Last year, the team began trialling the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify patients with the highest risk of suffering adverse events to allow for proactive interventions to be taken to reduce their chance of having to be admitted to hospital.
It has also developed technology to help patients manage their condition at home and avoid unnecessary visits to hospital by predicting flare-ups or episodes of poor health.
So far, the at-home management technology is estimated to have prevented around 400 hospital admissions and may have avoided 3,600 days spent in hospital by patients with COPD who are using the digital platform.
The newly-launched digital diagnostic service brings together appointments management, clinical information, test data and direct to patient outcome letters with decision support for referring clinicians.
The digital workflow allows clinicians to work more efficiently, further increase capacity, provide outcomes with management advice promptly, and adopt and evaluate the AI-based ‘ArtiQ.Spiro’ software which has been shown to reduce workload and improve accuracy of spirometry reporting for those who require a lung function test.
The tools also provide a dashboard overview which allows identification of high-risk patients for additional interventions, and real-time service performance data to support continuous improvements and evaluations.
Professor Chris Carlin, NHSGGC Consultant Respiratory Physician and Clinical Lead for the POLARIS project, whose work is funded by the Chief Scientist Office, said: “This launch is a pivotal step towards our ambition to transform care of cardio-respiratory long-term conditions.
“It will allow us to work more efficiently and help to speed up diagnosis for those with COPD, ensuring they are receiving interventions and treatments at an earlier stage.
“We’ve been really grateful for the collaborative working with AstraZeneca which has allowed us to address unacceptably long waiting times for direct access to spirometry.
“The collaboration has let us scope an end-to-end transformation of the COPD diagnostic service, and bring in ArtiQ as a delivery partner within POLARIS.
“We’re excited by the opportunities that the structured data, workflow assistive tools and new AI-based insights that the COPD digital diagnostic service will provide.”
Dr Edward Piper, Medical and Scientific Affairs Director, AstraZeneca, said: “AstraZeneca is proud to support this project in Glasgow aimed at improving COPD diagnosis and treatment through innovative technology and enhanced NHS capacity.
“Early detection with spirometry is key to providing effective care and better outcomes for patients with suspected COPD.”
Emma Giffen and Fergus Wilkie, who are both Respiratory Physiologists with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “This is an exciting project and we are delighted that Respiratory Physiology is at the forefront of this innovative approach within healthcare diagnostics.
“Our teams are working incredibly hard across the city to help implement this redesign and we are encouraged seeing a steady reduction in waiting times since the beginning of this project.
“Furthermore, the introduction of workflow assistive tools and AI insights will free up more patient facing time for us and allow us to signpost patients to appropriate services, such as the established COPD digital service.
“We are eager to continue working towards future developments to allow quicker access to diagnosis and subsequent treatment and management for patients with COPD.”
Marko Topolavic, CEO ArtiQ, said: “We are immensely grateful and thrilled to collaborate with 'NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde' and AstraZeneca. Our shared vision to optimize respiratory diagnostic pathways, and especially detect COPD early and reach patients unaware of this challenging disease drives our commitment.
“The POLARIS project stands as a testament to the transformative power of AI in enhancing respiratory diagnostic pathways. Moreover, with the ArtiQ.Spiro technology our team invented, we aim to reduce time and cost per patient, thereby cutting waiting lines, while simultaneously improving spirometry quality and diagnostic outcomes.
“We are incredibly excited about the impact this collaboration will have on improving patient outcomes and reshaping the future of respiratory care."
POLARIS is a joint working agreement between NHSGGC and AstraZeneca. The Health Innovation and Transformation Partnership is a ground-breaking collaboration between NHS, academic and industry partners.
Set up in 2022, the partnership is a collaboration between NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, AstraZeneca UK, NHS Golden Jubilee’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Lenus Health.
The aim of the partnership is to create transformation in NHS Scotland within both scheduled and unscheduled care through large scale programmes to improve the health of the population and by expanding clinical research. Interventions will use a variety of novel approaches and technologies focusing upon wide-ranging points in the patient journey and pathways of care and will span early upstream detection, diagnosis and risk-stratification through to chronic disease management.
ArtiQ is a leading innovative software company dedicated to enhancing the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with respiratory conditions. Moreover, ArtiQ strives to streamline and optimize respiratory clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies.
Through the development and provision of cutting-edge AI-first software, ArtiQ empowers traditional respiratory devices and processes.
ArtiQ is a Clario company. Clario is a leading healthcare research and technology company that generates better clinical evidence for pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device partners. Since its launch in 2019, together with researchers, clinicians, equipment manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies, ArtiQ is on a mission to make key improvements for patients with lung diseases.
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