A care pathway that is focused on COPD can lead to shorter hospital stays, increased referrals to pulmonary rehabilitation and improved standard of care, according to new research. The study, “Impact of an Inpatient COPD Care Pathway on Hospital Care Process and Outcome Metrics,” was published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.
The study examined the effectiveness of a COPD care pathway in a large academic medical center. Care pathways are designed using evidence and expert consensus to provide real-time decision support for health care providers.
The pathway in the study focused on two areas: patients admitted with a suspected acute COPD exacerbation and subsequent care, including patient education, specialty care referrals, discharge needs and other assessments. According to a news release, the pathway also helped providers verify a COPD diagnosis as many other conditions can appear as COPD or a COPD exacerbation.
“Care pathways help standardize COPD treatment and guide providers with expert recommendations that improve outcomes,” said Nancy Kim, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and associate clinical professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. “Despite low utilization, patients treated with a pathway were more likely to be referred to pulmonary rehabilitation, discharged home rather than to a facility and had shorter hospital stays.”
Based on the results, “the pathways make a real difference, and greater efforts are needed to expand their use,” added Dr. Kim.
