TY - JOUR T1 - Costs and effectiveness of a disease management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P2905 AU - Anna Porcu AU - Sara Balestracci AU - Mariella Polselli AU - Biagio Marsiglia AU - FIMMG Progetto MITO AU - Andrea Macuzzi AU - Pier Carlo Rossi AU - Maurizio Moretti Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P2905.abstract N2 - IntroductionThe effect of disease management for COPD is not well establishedObjectivesThe effect of integrated care intervention (ICI) on hospital admission was examined and a cost analysis was performedMethods208 COPD patients recruited by general practitioners in Massa-Carrara sanitary district from January 2009 were followed up prospectively. Interventions included individually tailored care plan following GOLD guidelines, educational program on self-management of the disease, treatment supervision during scheduled visits, home visits and phone contacts by specialised nurses.ResultsData from the 2-year follow-up were compared with the year prior to its initiation.ICI decreased the frequency of hospitalization and the mean number of hospitalization days in 1-year follow-up period; these results remained stable after 2 years (table 1). The best clinical results were detected in GOLD 2 and 3 stages. Mean daily cost of pulmonary drugs increased (€ 3.1/patient/year vs € 1.3 in the pre-enrolment year), while mean daily cost of hospitalization decreased from € 5.1/patient/year to € 2.2 (p<0.001).View this table:TABLE 1ConclusionsThe study shows that a standardised ICI based on share-care intervention between primary care and hospital team in COPD patients effectively decreases hospitalizations for exacerbation and total disease costs after 1 year follow-up; these positive results do not change after 2 years. ER -