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Impact on readmission rates and mortality of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease inpatient management guideline

Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Australia; Clinical Epidemiology and Health Outcomes Unit, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia; Respiratory Medicine, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia

F Cheok

A R Heard

Epidemiology Branch, Department of Human Services, Australia

A J Esterman

Department of General Practice, Flinders University, Australia

A M Southcott

Respiratory Medicine, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia

R Antic

Respiratory Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia

P A Frith

Respiratory Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Australia

K Hender

Clinical Epidemiology and Health Outcomes Unit, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia

R E Ruffin

Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Australia

Aims: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common condition associated with considerable morbidity, mortality and hospital admissions. However, published COPD management guidelines have major limitations and lack practical summaries. We aimed to optimally develop, implement, and evaluate a multidisciplinary COPD inpatient management ‘ACCORD’ guideline, including prompts for comprehensive day one assessments through to a discharge criteria checklist. Method: Two intervention and two control public teaching hospitals in Adelaide, South Australia, took part, with pre-intervention (721 COPD admissions over 7 months) and intervention phases (509 COPD admissions over 7 months). During the intervention stage the ACCORD guideline was placed in the case notes on the day of admission or soon after. Readmissions were categorized as either emergency or elective and compared between the study arms, as were mortality and potential confoundeis (age, gender, number of comorbidities), with Poisson regression analysis. Results: Of case notes of eligible COPD patients, 60% had the ACCORD guideline placed, of which 76% had evidence of use as judged by completion of guideline entry and tick boxes. The ACCORD guideline was associated with an increase in elective admissions and a reduction in emergency admissions in the intervention group in relation to the control group (P < 0.01), with no difference in overall admissions or death rates. Conclusions: The ACCORD guideline was associated with a shift from emergency admissions to more planned elective care, suggesting more proactive care of health problems, but without overall reduction in admissions.

Key Words: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) • guideline • health service utilization • protocol

Chronic Respiratory Disease, Vol. 1, No. 1, 17-28 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/1479972304cd007oa


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