Using a Digital Health Passport to improve asthma care

The UK has the worst asthma mortality in Europe for 10-24 year olds, accompanied by one of the highest prevalence and emergency admission rates. Around one million children and young people in the UK are receiving treatment for asthma but less than 25% have a personalised asthma action plan in place.

The Digital Health Passport is an asthma/allergy self-management app designed for teenagers, young adults, and the parents/carers of pre-teens. It has been co-designed with patients and aims to improve the delivery of asthma care and patient experience, ultimately improving asthma outcomes at scale.

The app is designed to support the asthma review by ensuring key educational elements are covered and the asthma plan is retained on the patient’s phone. By improving asthma control, it is anticipated that fewer face-to-face annual reviews and fewer out of hours and emergency appointments will be needed for people using the app.

We are pleased to have independently assessed the impact, effectiveness and value of the Digital Health Passport by acting as an evaluation partner to Tiny Medical Apps during an initial regional roll out. The evaluation found a clear improvement in users knowledge, skills and confidence in managing their asthma. This can predict an improvement in asthma outcomes such as admissions and exacerbations.

Find out more in our report.

Robust evaluation is crucial for the success of any healthcare innovation. This evaluation shows that using the Digital Health Passport for asthma has a positive impact on the experience and outcomes of young people and provided learning for Tiny Medical Apps on the methods used to build patients knowledge and confidence in managing their condition. I’m excited to see what’s next for the Digital Health Passport as this innovation develops.

Kate Cheema, Director of Evaluation and Insights, UCLPartners