Study: RT home visits can reduce COPD readmissions
By HME News Staff
Updated 9:56 AM CST, Wed January 12, 2022
YARMOUTH, Maine - At-home interventions by a respiratory therapist can reduce hospital readmission rates among patients with COPD, according to a new study published in Respiratory Care. Study authors looked at outcomes in patients enrolled in a respiratory therapist-led COPD Disease Management Program, comparing outcomes of 658 patients who were discharged from five hospitals in the Atlantic Health System with outcomes of 435 patients who were discharged and then enrolled in the management program. Those in the intervention group received a follow-up phone call from a respiratory therapist within two days of discharge. The therapist then visited the patient’s home three times over a four-week period. At 30 days, 22.3% of patients who were hospitalized before the launch of the management program had been readmitted to the hospital, compared with 12.2% of patients who underwent the post-hospital intervention program. At 60 days, readmission rates were 33.9% and 12%, respectively. By 90 days, all-cause readmissions were 43.5% in the pre-intervention group and 13.1% in the group that received the home visits.
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