title: A telehealth integrated asthma-COPD service for primary care: a proposal for a pilot feasibility study in Crete, Greece.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are considered underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed chronic diseases. In The Netherlands, a COPD-asthma telemedicine service has been developed to increase GPs' ability to diagnose and manage COPD and asthma. A telemedicine COPD-asthma service may benefit Greece as it is a country, partly due to its geography, that does not have easy access to pulmonologists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Therefore, a pilot feasibility study has been designed in Greece in order to establish this telemedicine service. Ten rural practices, in the island of Crete, with an average population of 2000 patients per practice will pilot the project supported by three pulmonologists. This paper presents the translated interfaces, the flowcharts and the steps that are considered as necessary for this feasibility study in Crete, Greece.
authors.affiliation: Agia Barbara Health Care Center, Heraklion, Crete, P,O 70003, Greece. pdkapa@yahoo.gr.
authors.forename: Ioanna G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Tsiligianni
authors.forename: Thys
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van der Molen
authors.forename: Nikolaos E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Tzanakis
authors.forename: Nikolaos M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Siafakas
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Heijst
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lionis