From www.healthcaredive.com Researchers at Atlanta-based Barnes Healthcare Services recently conducted a study to see if a patient management program that included non-invasive ventilators and in-home care would reduce readmission rates for patients with COPD. The study, which was co-authored and funded by Royal Phillips and published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine, examined 397 patients who had all been hospitalized at least twice in a single year with an acute COPD exacerbation. Each patient was prescribed a ventilator for home use. Continued in-home care consisted of medication management, oxygen therapy, patient education and ongoing respiratory therapist care in the home. Within one year, the proportion of COPD patients who were readmitted on two or more occasions decreased from 100% (397 of 397) to 2.2% (9 of 397). “This study holds promise in how a multifaceted intervention could assist health systems in significantly improving the care of the patients with advanced stage COPD in their home,” Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Sleep Disorders at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, said in a statement. “The results indicate that patients placed on this advanced mode of non-invasive ventilation, combined with an in-home care program, can reduce hospitalizations and subsequently reduce healthcare utilization. This study is a good foundation to build from and to further validate.”
