Preferences and Requirements for a Digital Pulmonary Rehabilitation Platform in COPD: A Qualitative Study from Healthcare Providers' Perspectives (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic respiratory condition characterized by persistent airflow limitation. Its high prevalence, significant disability rate, and substantial disease burden pose severe challenges to global public health systems 1. Pulmonary rehabilitation, a core component of COPD management, has been proven effective in improving exercise tolerance, alleviating dyspnea, and enhancing quality of life 2. However, traditional center-based pulmonary rehabilitation faces limitations such as low patient participation rates, geographical accessibility issues, and poor long-term adherence 3. With the rapid advancement of digital health technologies, the personalized and remote delivery of pulmonary rehabilitation has become feasible. Digital Pulmonary Rehabilitation Platforms (DPRPs) have emerged as innovative interventions offering potential solutions to overcome the accessibility and adherence barriers associated with conventional rehabilitation models 4. Existing research primarily focuses on the technical implementation of DPRPs or patient outcomes 5-6. Healthcare providers, as the primary developers and implementers of pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and their acceptance, preferences, and requirements for such platforms have not been sufficiently explored. This lack of attention to the provider perspective may result in platform designs that are misaligned with clinical realities, ultimately compromising the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention. Qualitative research methods are particularly suited to gain in-depth understanding of healthcare providers' individual perceptions, practical challenges, and underlying expectations 7. These insights are crucial for optimizing the functional design and clinical integration of DPRPs. Therefore, this study employs a qualitative approach to systematically explore healthcare providers' preferences and requirements regarding COPD digital pulmonary rehabilitation platforms, aiming to inform the development of a collaborative, efficient, and sustainable digital rehabilitation model for both patients and providers. OBJECTIVE Objective: To explore healthcare providers' preferences and requirements for a home-based digital pulmonary rehabilitation platform for COPD, in order to inform the development of a digital intervention strategy that aligns with the needs of clinical practice.  METHODS Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were performed with nine healthcare providers engaged in COPD management from a tertiary hospital and a community health center in Changsha between May and August 2025. The collected data were then analyzed.  RESULTS Results: Five main themes and 24 sub-themes emerged: core functional requirements (vital signs monitoring, medication management, rehabilitation progress tracking, customized rehabilitation plans, multi-comorbidity integration, intelligent task push notifications), user experience design (simplified interface operation, data visualization, dialect support, illiteracy-friendly design), incentive mechanism construction (patient check-in rewards, visualization of rehabilitation progress, financial compensation for providers, research data support), safety and emergency management (vital signs alert thresholds, rehabilitation exercise safety assurance, multi-level emergency response linkage, one-touch emergency SOS function), and implementation and operational strategies (user training system, interactive and engaging design, tiered pricing models, health insurance integration, tripartite collaboration architecture, community linkage mechanisms).  CONCLUSIONS Conclusion: Healthcare providers perceive that the design of a COPD digital pulmonary rehabilitation platform should be multidimensional. They recommend that development should integrate core functions such as monitoring, management, personalization, and incentives, optimize the user experience, and establish sustainable operational models to meet the diverse needs of patients undergoing home-based rehabilitation.