Back Page: Leveraging digital health technology: Five ways to address barriers to inhaled medication adherence

For asthma and COPD patients, digital health offers an opportunity to address key barriers to adherence in five new ways: (1) delivering more streamlined, personal strategies to help reduce the burden of disease management and compliance; (2) motivating patients to improve adherence through monetary incentives, games and other behavioral strategies; (3) supporting and encouraging appropriate inhaler technique; (4) electronically monitoring adherence; and (5) merging various measures of asthma and COPD activity, risk and impairment with other health and personal data, producing a more holistic picture of patient health and well-being.