Thomas Ringbæk,1,2 Allan Green,1 Lars Christian Laursen,2,3 Ejvind Frausing,1 Eva Brøndum,1 Charlotte Suppli Ulrik1,2 1Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark; 2Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen; 3Pulmonary Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Herlev Hospital, Herlev, Denmark Background and objective: Tele monitoring (TM) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has gained much interest, but studies have produced conflicting results. Our aim was to investigate the effect of TM with the option of video consultations on exacerbations and hospital admissions in patients with severe COPD.Materials and methods: Patients with severe COPD at high risk of exacerbations were eligible for the study. Of 560 eligible patients identified, 279 (50%) declined to participate. The remaining patients were equally randomized to either TM (n=141) or usual care (n=140) for the 6-month study period. TM comprised recording of symptoms, saturation, spirometry, and weekly video consultations. Algorithms generated alerts if readings breached thresholds. Both groups received standard care. The primary outcome was number of hospital admissions for exacerbation of COPD during the study period.Results: Most of the enrolled patients had severe COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second