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Study on COPD management shows decreased admission rates

Patient Access Weekly Advisor, May 28, 2008

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A recent study has shown that a different approach to management of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can dramatically reduce hospitalization and emergency department visits, according to a Forbes report.

Dr. Kathryn Rice, staff physician in the pulmonary division of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, along with her colleagues, conducted a year-long study of 743 COPD patients, randomly selected to receive either limited case management or conventional care from their primary-care providers, at five VA hospitals.

In the limited management group, emergency room visits for COPD dropped by more than one-half and hospitalizations for COPD dropped by almost one-third, compared to patients in the traditional treatment group. Admissions related to other causes dropped by more than 20 percent in the limited management group, the Forbes report says.

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