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Evaluating the EAPOC-COPD System
Sponsor: Women's College Hospital
Summary
This study evaluates the implementation and impact of the Evidence-at-the-Point-of-Care Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (EAPOC-COPD) system, a computerized clinical decision support system designed to improve the quality of COPD care delivered in community pharmacies. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and healthcare utilization, and significant gaps persist in key evidence-based practices, including symptom and exacerbation risk assessment, appropriate pharmacotherapy, provision of COPD action plans, and referral for specialist care. The EAPOC-COPD system builds on a previously validated asthma platform and provides pharmacists with guideline-based decision support through a structured patient questionnaire and point-of-care recommendations, including treatment optimization and generation of personalized action plans. This study will be conducted across six community pharmacies implementing the EAPOC-COPD system as part of a quality improvement initiative. Using a quasi-experimental interrupted time series design, outcomes during a 12-month intervention period will be compared to a 12-month pre-intervention baseline period. The study will evaluate both implementation outcomes (including system uptake, usability, feasibility, and acceptability among pharmacy teams and patients) and effectiveness outcomes. Effectiveness outcomes include improvements in guideline-based COPD care processes, such as rates of symptom and exacerbation risk assessment, optimization of pharmacotherapy, provision of COPD action plans, and appropriate referral for specialist care. Results from this study will inform the scalability and broader implementation of pharmacy-based clinical decision support tools to enhance chronic disease management and support the expanding role of pharmacists in delivering evidence-based COPD care.
Official title: Bringing Evidence to the Point-of-Care in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The EAPOC-COPD System
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
25
Start Date
2026-07-01
Completion Date
2028-09-01
Last Updated
2026-05-18
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
EAPOC-COPD
The EAPOC-COPD system consists of: 1) a smart phone / tablet app or Personal Computer-based questionnaire which collects information directly from patients upon prompting; 2) a point-of-care clinical decision support system that wirelessly receives and processes questionnaire data in order to produce a symptom severity/exacerbation risk assessment, medication change recommendation, and COPD action plan, all of which is made available to pharmacy providers electronically. Once approved, the personalized COPD action plan is automatically populated within the patient app/portal, enabling anywhere/anytime access for patients. Patients are also provided with educational resources within their app/portal, designed to improve health literacy, inhaler technique, and adherence to their action plan
Locations (1)
St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada