ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT03353064ETOUCHUpdated Oct 29, 2018

Telemedicine for Improving Outcome in Inner City Patient Population With Hypercapneic Respiratory Failure

An interventional study of Vivify and EMS in Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, sponsored by Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. Terminated at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-10-29.

Primary conditionObesity Hypoventilation SyndromeRegistry: Respiratory InsufficiencyReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Respiratory Insufficiency — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, a narrower term within Respiratory Insufficiency.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Albert Einstein Healthcare Network · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

Why this study was terminated
inability to recruit subjects

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Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
4
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The Hypercapnia Telemedicine Outreach Program (E-TOUCH Study) aims to utilize telemedicine technology, as well as emergency medical services (EMS) home visits to address the problem with poor follow-up and compliance among Einstein's hypercapnic patients.

The hypothesis is that reaching out to the subjects' homes will allow more consistent healthcare delivery, increase healthcare efficiency and compliance with therapy, and overall decrease acute decompensated states / hypercapnic respiratory failure, decreasing ED visits and hospitalization.

Read the detailed description

Hypercapnic respiratory failure is a prevalent medical problem, comprising a substantial number of ED visits and readmissions. The target population that are at high risk for developing hypercapnia are patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep disordered breathing (SDB) overlapping with COPD, and patients with neuromuscular disorders. These patients are commonly managed in the progressive care units or the intensive care unit for extended periods of time, which can over-utilize health systems resources. Einstein Medical Center's patient population includes multiple low-income communities / neighborhoods. Their educational background varies and constant education and counseling is an integral part of the treatment plan. These patients are particularly vulnerable due to a lack of geographic access and difficulty contacting healthcare providers via phone. Some of the patients may not be able to afford co-pays for clinic visits or are not able to follow up with a physician. In addition, patients treated with non-invasive ventilation in the hospital and require home therapy either never receive the device or are sub-optimally trained in its appropriate utilization. These patients may also be morbidly obese with mobility issues, which is another obstacle preventing patients from following up with their providers.

Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy/ non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) are effective treatments to avoid acute hypercapnic respiratory failure; however, low compliance and poor follow-up are often recurring issues. These high-risk patients present in the emergency department acutely hypercapnic and encephalopathic with subsequent ICU admission and mechanical ventilation.This Telemedicine Outreach Program aims to utilize E-touch devices (Vivify-Go) in collaboration with home visits by EMS (Emergency medical services) to improve compliance and the efficiency of healthcare delivery. These efforts will hopefully lead to a decrease in acute decompensated respiratory states and hospital readmission rates.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
  • Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome
  • Sleep Disordered Breathing
  • Neuromuscular Diseases
03

In context

Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome Reclassified

73 studies on the registry are indexed under Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome; 10 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 4 is below the median of 40 across 42 interventional studies indexed under Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome.

Browse Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network is the lead sponsor of 63 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (50%) have results posted.

Compared within Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Respiratory Insufficiency. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult patients > 18 years of age
  • Evidence of hypercapnia (PCO2 ≥ 45mmHg) secondary to -OSA overlap, OHS, Neuromuscular disease / weakness
  • Requiring NIV / NIPPV outpatient
  • Ability to operate a smart device / tablet

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English or Non-Spanish- speaking (device videos and surveys are available in English or Spanish only)
  • Patients unable to give consent
  • Pregnant women
  • Prisoners
  • Patients \<18 years of age
  • Patient already on NIPPV/ CPAP at home and compliant on therapy
  • Significant non-pulmonary conditions (CHF with EF \< 40%), Pulmonary hypertension with PASP> 60 mmGH, severe valvular heart disease, end-stage renal disease or end-stage liver disease.
  • Patients without health insurance
  • Residing out of state (Pennsylvania)
  • Patients with current or history of drug / narcotic dependence
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
4 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Vivify + EMS

    This arm will have the Telemedicine kits and get scheduled EMS home visits. The subjects will complete daily biometrics / surveys / care plans through the telemedicine kit, as specified in the activity schedule Apart from the tablet device, EMS home visits will be scheduled on Day 7, Day 21 and Day 42 from discharge. During these home visits, the EM personnel will perform a check of the NIV/NIPPV device. They are able to adjust pressures according to your Pulmonologist / Sleep doctor's prescription, and troubleshoot any issues with the mask, the humidifier, etc. They will also measure End-tidal CO2 via nasal cannula.

    Other: Vivify · Other: EMS

  • Active comparator
    Vivify Only

    This group will receive the telemedicine tablet and kit, with the same protocol as defined above. No EMS home visits will be set up

    Other: Vivify

Interventions

  • OtherVivify

    A telemedicine kit will (Vivify) which will obtain daily biometrics (vital signs) and care plans. These are all monitored by the Pulmonary team remotely via an online portal. The telemedicine system has a set-up for alerts whenever there are clinical concerns (vital signs out of parameters), or non-use of the Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). This system allows for video conferencing between the Pulmonary team (physician, respiratory therapist, nurse) to troubleshoot issues, and increase NIPPV compliance.

  • OtherEMS

    Emergency medical service scheduled home visits for face to face troubleshooting of the NIPPV, environmental check and end-tidal CO2.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 30-day ED and Hospital readmission Rate

    Patients are followed from enrollment for the next 30 days. We will compare rate of re-admissions between the 2 parallel intervention arms, and check the p-value

    Time frame: 30 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. SF-12 questionnaire

    The SF-12 questionnaire gives an assessment score of subject's mental and physician functioning and overall health-related quality of life. We will compare scores of subjects in the parallel intervention groups

    Time frame: every 2 weeks for duration of 6 weeks

  2. NIV compliance

    This is a YES or NO determination of NIV compliance using the CMS (Centers of Medicare and Medicaid) criteria of at least 4hrs use of NIV per day, at least 70% of a 30-day period. We will compare the number of compliant against non-compliant subjects in the 2 parallel intervention groups

    Time frame: 6 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • D'Cruz,Rebecca, Harman Saman, Olliver O'Sullivan, Norashikin Amran, Jumaa Bwika, Ben Beauchamp, Rahul Mukherjee. "Readmission and mortality after first hospital admission with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) requiring non-invasive ventilation (NIV)" European Respiratory Journal (2013) 42:P2490
  • Konikkara J, Tavella R, Willes L, Kavuru M, Sharma S. Early recognition of obstructive sleep apnea in patients hospitalized with COPD exacerbation is associated with reduced readmission. Hosp Pract (1995). 2016;44(1):41-7. doi: 10.1080/21548331.2016.1134268. Epub 2016 Jan 20. PubMed 26691510 ↗
  • Riachy M, Najem S, Iskandar M, Choucair J, Ibrahim I, Juvelikian G. Factors predicting CPAP adherence in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Sleep Breath. 2017 May;21(2):295-302. doi: 10.1007/s11325-016-1408-y. Epub 2016 Sep 16. PubMed 27638725 ↗
  • Taylor Y, Eliasson A, Andrada T, Kristo D, Howard R. The role of telemedicine in CPAP compliance for patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Sleep Breath. 2006 Sep;10(3):132-8. doi: 10.1007/s11325-006-0059-9. PubMed 16565867 ↗
  • Turino C, de Batlle J, Woehrle H, Mayoral A, Castro-Grattoni AL, Gomez S, Dalmases M, Sanchez-de-la-Torre M, Barbe F. Management of continuous positive airway pressure treatment compliance using telemonitoring in obstructive sleep apnoea. Eur Respir J. 2017 Feb 8;49(2):1601128. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01128-2016. Print 2017 Feb. PubMed 28179438 ↗
  • Bruyneel M. Technical Developments and Clinical Use of Telemedicine in Sleep Medicine. J Clin Med. 2016 Dec 13;5(12):116. doi: 10.3390/jcm5120116. PubMed 27983582 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Oct 2017 to primary completion in Oct 2018, 12 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Nov 5, 2017
First posted
Nov 27, 2017
StartActual
Oct 18, 2017
Primary completionActual
Oct 26, 2018
CompletionActual
Oct 26, 2018
Last update
Oct 29, 2018
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 29, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03353064
Lead sponsor
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
Responsible party
Sunil Sharma (Division Chair and Program Director of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 27, 2017
Start date
Oct 18, 2017
Primary completion
Oct 26, 2018
Completion
Oct 26, 2018
Last update
Oct 29, 2018

Study contacts

Sunil Sharma
principal investigator · Albert Einstein Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Oct 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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