AIR Louisville

What does this sensor do?

2/9/2016

by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville

The AIR Louisville program is centered around a small sensor that fits on top of an asthma inhaler. The sensor records the date and time when a person takes a dose from an inhaler. The device connects with an app to log the information. Having this record can help a person identify triggers and get better control of her symptoms.

Propeller Health makes the sensor and the app that powers AIR Louisville. Meredith Barrett is the company’s vice president for science and research. In this video clip, Meredith explains what the sensor does and how it helps people understand and control their asthma.

In June, we gathered several experts to talk about the goals of AIR Louisville. We wanted to answer these questions about the program:

Why is asthma so bad in Louisville?
How does the Propeller Health sensor work?
What do doctors think about this new tool?
Why would a person with asthma join the program?

You can watch the entire conversation here.

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Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma

2/5/2016

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Feb 5, 2016 - Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is the latest local employer to join AIR Louisville, a new approach to improving asthma that leverages sensors, big data, and community collaboration.

AIR Louisville is a grant-funded program designed to reduce the burden of asthma in Louisville, Kentucky, a city consistently ranked as one of the most challenging in the US for people with asthma. The program aligns to Humana’s local strategy to address respiratory illness among its employees and members.

Dr. Rae Godsey, DO, the corporate medical director for Humana, said that the bold goal is to improve the health of the communities the company serves 20% by 2020. About 8% of the US population has asthma versus 13% in Louisville. Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma are responsible for higher health care bills for employers and a lower quality of life for individuals.

“Our ambitious goal is only achievable if we work together with organizations like AIR Louisville,” Dr. Godsey said. “Our research indicated that asthma, allergies, smoking and other respiratory illnesses are significant barriers to Kentucky’s health. AIR Louisville is helping us develop and implement collaborative strategies to remove these barriers and assist us all in breathing easier.”

The AIR Louisville program is powered by Propeller Health, the Institute for Healthy Air, Water and Soil, the city of Louisville, and a coalition of seven employers, three healthcare providers, a health plan and three advocacy groups. The program uses Propeller’s smart inhalers to help residents learn more about their asthma and reduce their symptoms. It also provides city leaders with valuable public health information so they can make more informed decisions about how to keep the air quality across the metro area clean enough to prevent asthma attacks.

Propeller Health provides an FDA-cleared digital health platform including inhaler sensors that record the time and location of medication use. It also engages patients through a mobile app and feedback in order to help reduce the frequency of asthma symptoms and improve outcomes.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded AIR Louisville through a grant to the Institute for Healthy Air, Water and Soil. This nonprofit is bringing together employers, doctors, insurance companies and advocacy groups to support a new solution for Louisville’s asthma problem.

“The first person who joined our program said, ‘I want to live here, I want to be happy here, and I want to be healthy here.’ The AIR Louisville team is working to make asthma less of a burden for everyone in Louisville,” said Veronica Combs, director of community engagement for AIR Louisville.

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2015 By The Numbers

2/5/2016

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by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville
Here is an update on what the AIR Louisville team has accomplished as well as what we have planned for 2016.
Our focus was awareness and enrollment during the first year of our community asthma program. I recently counted up all the work we did around awareness and came up with these stats:

35 meetings with potential partners
24 events, ranging from the Downtown Rotary Club to a Semple Elementary Family event to Humana’s Bold Moves Town Hall
1 Google Hangout with Dr. Jim Sublett from Family Allergy and Asthma, Mike Tringale from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Christine Vaughan who is patient in the program, and Dr. Meredith Barrett Vice President of Science and Research at Propeller Health, and Veronica Combs Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville
36 mentions in the press, including The Washington Post, PBS NewsHour Weekend, The Courier-Journal and MobiHealthNews
23 blog posts
1,013 likes on the AIR Louisville Facebook page

For more details on all these items, check out this look back at AIR Louisville in 2015.
Plans for 2016
The best news I have to share is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In November, I looked at the list of current partners and potential partners. To enroll all the companies and organizations that wanted to join our community asthma program, we needed more time.
I went back to our funder and proposed an extension and a slightly larger budget. The Foundation said yes. Now AIR Louisville enrollment will continue through March 2016 and we'll have until June 2017 to complete our tracking and analysis.
I want to thank Paul Tarini and Oktawia Wojcik for considering this request and working to get approval for it. The Foundation has been a wonderful partner throughout this program, providing all the support we have needed to make it a success.
In February, we will be sharing some early data and analysis from our work. The AIR Louisville team will be meeting with Mayor Fischer, public health officials, and many of our partners. Our first advisory board meeting will be in March - email me if you'd like to join that group. We'll also be hosting a public event in March. This will be a chance for people participating in the asthma program to connect with each other and with the AIR Louisville team.

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What does this sensor do?

Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma

2015 By The Numbers

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What does this sensor do?

﻿Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma

2015 By The Numbers

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Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma