PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Brian Carlin
AU  - Kim Wiles
AU  - Dan Easley
TI  - Rehospitalization rates for patients with pneumonia who require supplemental oxygen therapy following hospital discharge
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P628
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P628.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P628.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Objective: To compare the hospital readmission rates for patients with pneumonia who require supplemental oxygen therapy following an exacerbation who are entered into a home-care based, respiratory therapist centered transition of care program.Method: Patients with a diagnosis of pneumonia who required supplemental oxygen therapy on hospital discharge were entered into a post hospitalization transition of care program {Discharge, Assessment and Summary @ Home (D.A.S.H., Klingensmith HealthCare, Ford City, PA)]. Patients with a diagnosis of COPD were excluded from this analysis. The program consists of face to face visits by a respiratory therapist with the patient on days 2, 7, and 30 following hospital discharge. Education, behavior modification, skills training, oxygen titration during performance of activities of daily living, clinical assessment, and adherence data collection are components of the program. The 30 day readmission rates following discharge for those patients entered into the program over a twenty four month period were evaluated.Results: 22 consecutive patients with pneumonia from 23 different hospitals were enrolled into the program over the two year period. None (0%) of the patients were rehospitalized within the first thirty days following hospital discharge.Conclusions: The use of a multiple visit respiratory therapist based patient centered management program resulted in a significant decrease in the 30 day readmission rates for those patients who were discharged following a hospitalization for pneumonia.