Study looked at average LOS in patients with COPD exacerbations treated at two community hospitals
THURSDAY, Feb. 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Daily integrated care conferences (ICCs) are associated with shorter length of stay for patients admitted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations at a community hospital, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
Ryan Shilian, D.O., from University Hospitals in Cleveland, and colleagues assessed the association between daily ICCs and length of stay for patients hospitalized with COPD exacerbation. The analysis included data from the medical records of 1,683 patients with COPD exacerbation seen at two osteopathic community hospitals. One hospital used daily ICCs and the other hospital did not.
The researchers found that the mean length of stay in the hospital with daily ICCs was 3.37 days versus 5.55 days in the hospital without daily ICCs. Compared with patients at the hospital without daily ICCs, patients aged 40 to 69 years had a 67 percent shorter stay at the hospital with daily ICCs, while patients aged 70 to 99 years or older had a 36 percent shorter length of stay.
“Implementing daily ICCs may make current health care services and coordinated care more efficient, resulting in decreased costs and length of stay for patients with COPD exacerbation,” the authors write.
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