FAQs

The following article will help answer some frequently asked questions you may have as you start to use the Propeller Provider Portal. 

1. How does Propeller calculate adherence?
2. How does Propeller define 'night time'?
3. How do you calculate COPD baseline? What about the Exacerbation Risk Alert?
4. How do you calculate asthma control score?
5. What medications are compatible with Propeller sensors?
6. What does the “Last Contact” column mean?
7. Why does it say 0 puffs next to an event? What does that mean?
8. How do I interpret the relationship between adherence and rescue use?
9. Are there times I should reach out to patients when they don’t have an alert? How do you identify those patients?
10. I need some help with a specific patient. How do I report this to Propeller without emailing the patient's name?

How does Propeller calculate adherence?

Propeller calculates adherence based on a patient’s daily schedule. If a patient is supposed to take 2 doses a day, but has only been taking one dose per day for the past week, their weekly adherence would be 50% or 7/14.

How does Propeller define 'night time'?

Propeller considers night time to be 10:00 PM – 6:59 AM localized to the patient’s timezone. Any usages from a patient’s rescue inhaler in this time period will be considered a night time event.

Propeller also breaks down rescue usages at other times of the day into groupings to help spot trends in a patient’s rescue usage. Here’s how we break down the times of the day, always localized to the patient’s time zone:

• Morning: 7:00AM – 11:59AM
• Afternoon: 12:00PM – 4:59PM
• Evening: 5:00PM – 9:59PM
• Night: 10:00PM – 6:59AM

How do you calculate COPD baseline? What about the Exacerbation Risk Alert?

The COPD baseline looks at the patient’s rescue usage history and creates an average of the number of rescue usages over the past 30 days. That baseline then gets compared to the number of usages a patient had over the last 48 hours to show if they’re above or below that baseline.

If a patient has used their rescue inhaler 10 times in a day, or if they have a rescue use above their baseline for a series of 2 days, Propeller will trigger an Exacerbation Risk Alert for that patient.

How do you calculate asthma control score?

Propeller uses NHLBI guidelines and a patient’s rescue usages to calculate the asthma control score. For specifics on each score, see this article.

What medications are compatible with Propeller sensors?

 Propeller is compatible with most Metered Dose, Soft Mist, and Dry Powder Inhalers. See our Compatible Medications List here.

What does the “Last Contact” column mean?

 This is the date of the last notification that was resolved by a Care Team member.

Why does it say 0 puffs next to an event? What does that mean?

 When patients manually enter an event into our system using the app and not their sensor, we will record that event as having required 0 puffs. Typically this is used by patients who have medications that are not supported by Propeller sensors.

How do I interpret the relationship between adherence and rescue use?

 When you identify patients with poor adherence and increased rescue medication use, this would indicate a need for medication education regarding the patient’s daily controller medication. This is a great opportunity to stress why compliance is important and how controller medications work to help prevent the need for rescue med use.

When we identify patients that have good adherence and increased rescue med use, this would indicate a change in the patient’s level of control. It would be important to communicate with this patient to determine if this was an acute issue or the potential need for a step up in their medication therapy.

Are there times I should reach out to patients when they don’t have an alert? How do you identify those patients?

With the Propeller platform we now have the ability to view the number of puffs a patient takes from each inhaler. This can be seen within the Patient Detail of the patient’s account by clicking on their name from the My Patients list. We can identify those patients that may not be taking their prescribed dose of their controller inhaler. We also have insight into the number of puffs a patient may be taking from their rescue inhaler. This is another great opportunity for patient education.

I need some help with a specific patient. How do I report this to Propeller without emailing the patient's name?

 To report an issue to Propeller regarding a patient, their data, or to request some technical outreach, follow these steps:

1. In the upper right hand corner of the Provider Portal, click on the question mark icon.
2. Select Contact Support
3. In this contact form, you can send patient details securely to Propeller.

All emails are generally reviewed within 4 hours with a maximum response time of 24 hours. Need help sooner? Call us at 877-251-5451 Monday through Friday any time between 9 AM to 7 PM CST.