Intensive Intervention to Improve Outcomes for Patients With COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic conditions contributing to morbidity and mortality. In 2016, it was the third leading cause of years of life lost and diasbility-adjusted life-years in the United States, with an estimated 164  000 deaths. Even with aggressive inpatient management, patients who are hospitalized for COPD often experience a recurrent cycle of rehospitalizations, resulting in reductions in overall health and quality of life (QOL). To help interrupt this cycle, the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services incorporated COPD into the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, which financially penalizes hospitals with high risk-adjusted readmissions. The ensuing interest in COPD readmissions has generated numerous clinical trials that have examined different readmission reduction strategies, although this research has often produced conflicting results, and many studies have failed to demonstrate benefit of transitional care or chronic disease self-management programs. Clinicians and health systems are left with limited guidance for how to manage this common disease.
Source: JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research