Background: Populations of elderly patients with advanced stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or heart failure (HF) are growing, urging the need for specialized health care in the patients’ home. A 4 year (2013-2017) telehealth intervention single-centre clinical study has been completed. We hypothesized that the two groups of patients, advanced COPD or HF, would exhibit differences regarding exacerbations and the need of health care.

Objective: To study exacerbations of COPD or HF, and patients’ need of health care.

Methods: A telemonitoring system, the Health Diary, which is based on digital pen technology, was employed. Patients with at least 2 hospital admissions the previous year were included. Responsible nurses and physicians at a specialized home care unit at a university hospital checked all daily patient reports. Physicians identified exacerbations using information provided through the telemonitoring system and patient contacts. Consumed health care was assessed as the number of patient contacts (home visits or telephone consultations).

Results: Totally, 94 patients with advanced disease were enrolled (36 COPD and 58 HF patients) of which 53 patients (19 COPD and 34 HF patients) completed the 1-yr study period. The major reason for not completing the study was death (13 COPD, 15 HF patients). Average numbers of exacerbations were 3.1 and 0.8 and patient contacts were 94 and 67 per COPD and HF patient, respectively.

Conclusions: Compared to HF patients, COPD patients exhibit exacerbations more frequently and demand much more home health care. This difference of health care consumption is mainly due to disease characteristics.