Healthcare company the Arizona Care Network, along with Dignity Health, Abrazo Health (part of the Tenet network), and Phoenix Children’s Hospital has announced that they will partner in order to give COPD patients access to wireless and online tools (via Propeller Health) to monitor and control their diseases as part of a new mobile health technology initiative.

According to Eric Wicklund at mHealthNews, the goal is to enable patients to gather health information and easily communicate their current condition and data to clinicians so that they can in turn provide them with a wide range of treatment options, from daily therapy to emergency treatment.

As Lung Disease News previously reported, mobile tools are seen by several healthcare providers as valuable resources for patients with COPD as a way to improve welfare and quality of life, all while reducing healthcare costs.

Now, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are applying mHealth tools to other disease areas with the same objective.

Although the Arizona Care Network is the first ACO in the nation to give patients access to Propeller Health’s technology, other ACOs are using mHealth tools to help empower patients to live healthier lifestyles, stay out of the hospital, and reduce healthcare costs.

Last month, the 13-hospital Franciscan Alliance ACO announced the connection of its members to clinicians through Honeywell HomMed’s mHealth devices and the Lifestream Management Suite of analytical software.

Another ACO, Primary Partners, applied AMC Health Telemedicine services to members with chronic conditions to identify gaps in care and to improve monitoring and management of the diseases.

Mark Stephan, MD, the Arizona Care Network’s medical director, noted the shared goals of the ACO and the use of mHealth tools. “We are always seeking innovative, evidence- and value-based programs that both improve the health and quality of life of our patients and the efficiency of the care we deliver,” he said, adding that Propeller will “create new opportunities for us to intervene with patients who may be worsening and heading to a severe exacerbation.”

Propeller Health CEO David Van Sickle reinforced the notion that mHealth tools are valuable to improve the quality of life of COPD patients and added that the Arizona Care Network will be able to “better manage patients with COPD prevent avoidable hospitalizations, reduce readmission rates and ER visits while achieving better health outcomes.”