Asthma affects about 25 million Americans and accounts for 1.8 million emergency room visits every year. Among school-age children, asthma is the number one reason for missed school days.
“Asthma is quite common here in Northern California,” explains Rajan Merchant, MD, Allergy and Immunology specialist with Dignity Health Medical Foundation – Woodland and Davis. “Our goal when caring for patients with asthma is always to relieve symptoms and prevent future asthma attacks and complications. That means helping our patients return to regular activities, including exercise and outdoor sports. That begins by controlling asthma symptoms and avoiding triggers."The key to effective asthma care is to treat each patient individually, assessing their lung function, current symptoms, triggers and treatments. Following evaluation, a referral to an allergist (for asthma due to allergies) or a pulmonologist (for asthma related to lung function) may be necessary to further determine the best course of action to control your asthma.
Comprehensive asthma care should include:
- Education about asthma triggers and management
- Assistance with prescriptions and equipment
- Personalized asthma action treatment plans
- Self-management skills training
While medication can help treat asthma and can prevent asthma attacks, getting patients, especially children, to use their medication effectively has long been a challenge. But now new technology is changing that and the doctors at Dignity Health Medical Foundation – Woodland and Davis are seeing the results first hand.
“One other tool that Dignity Health Medical Foundation – Woodland and Davis is able to provide patients with is access to Propeller” says Dr. Merchant. “The Propeller sensor is an innovative tool that can help with controlling your asthma. In fact, Propeller data shows that when patients use a Propeller sensor, they use their rescue inhaler 79% less often and experience 50% more symptom free days.”
Through the sensor attached to your inhaler and an app on your phone, Propeller helps manage medications, symptoms, and triggers. It uses breakthrough, FDA-cleared technology that enables people living with asthma to better understand their condition by:
- Providing timely alerts to reduce the risk of having an asthma attack
- Indicating trends that can help identify when and where an inhaler should be used
- Sending tips about symptoms that should be discussed with your doctor
“Propeller is not only a great tool for patients, but also for us as physicians,” explains Dr. Merchant. “The more data we have, the better we are able to care for our patients.”
Rajan Merchant, MD, is an allergy and immunology specialist with Dignity Health Medical Foundation – Woodland and Davis.
Dr. Merchant is currently accepting new patients. Click here or call 530.668.2600 to learn more and make an appointment. To learn more about the Propeller sensor program, visit Woodland.PropellerHealth.com.
