Vitalflo Respiratory Monitor

As a pediatrician I routinely care for children with asthma. As we all know families of asthmatic are frequently non-compliant with our recommendations – and many children do not take their medications as prescribed. As a consequence, asthmatic patients may have exacerbations, or may in fact be unaware that they are not optimally managed.  Furthermore, when such patients begin to wheeze, they may not seek care from their primary care physicians, preferring to be seen at more convenient urgent care clinics or, all to often at an emergency room.

VitalFlo is a company that will enable physicians to better care for their asthmatic patients as well as older patients with COPD and other respiratory conditions.   It combines a high-tech spirometer that is provided to your patient that communicates with an app on a smartphone. As seen in the interview with Wendy Stevens BSRN, Director of Business Development for VitalFlo, the app is easy to use, includes a tutorial for using the spirometer, a very brief survey of symptoms, and directs the patient to produce 3 good blows into the device.   Patient results are transmitted to a portal that can be viewed by patient or clinician and recommendations can be discussed with patients via office or Telehealth visits.  Depending on disease severity the provider makes recommendations regarding the frequency of testing.  Vitalflo is a prescription-based service that costs a practice $35 per patient per month (less if the patient purchases the spirometer).  The provider can generate revenue by charging for testing/monitoring (billing codes and reimbursement are discussed in the video), and seeing patients for regular visits.

The system was developed at several academic institutions in North Carolina, and studies have demonstrated its ability to improve patient management.

I’m very impressed with the VitalFlo system, and will include it in my “Best Tech for Pediatrics 2021” article that will be published by Contemporary Pediatrics in September!