Patient experience with home respiratory therapies in Portugal : it is time to move forward

Abstract

The number of patients needing home respiratory therapies (HRT), such as long-term oxygen therapy and/or home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in Portugal is increasing. These therapies help individuals to improve function and live with greater quality of life; and assist them to remain at home, avoiding hospital emergencies, unscheduled consultations and hospitalizations.4 Data from a recently published work confirms this increasing trend: in 2018, almost 80% of the HMV specialized centres were treating >30 new patients per year, currently treating >200 patients in total.5 Moreover, the director of the National Program for Respiratory Diseases, based on the prescription database, showed that in 2017 the prevalence rose to a record of 80/100.000, very close to France, the country with the highest figures in Europe (C Bárbara 2019, personal communication, May 30th, Jornadas de Pneumologia CH Entre Douro e Vouga). An innovative national, patient-centred care home respiratory model was implemented in Portugal in 20146 and the major challenges are to create key performance indicators in order to maintain the access to HRT, national healthcare service sustainability and quality of care.