An Evaluation of Post Discharge Utilization Among Patients With an Acute Exacerbation of COPD

Patients hospitalized at participating CHS sites with COPD acute exacerbation symptoms, will
be treated per the CHS COPD clinical pathway. The COPD clinical pathway will include four
components: (i) discrete, evidence-based care steps (ii) patient navigation, (iii) daily data
driven care gap identification, (iv) monthly leadership huddles. These components are all
part of usual care for patients in this population, but each component is not applied to
patients consistently across the System. For this reason, the pathway will be applied
consistently and completely in patients meeting COPD acute exacerbation criteria at
participating sites. Patients will be followed for 60 days in total after discharge from
their COPD acute exacerbation symptoms to determine the potential effectiveness of complete
implementation of all 4 components in the care of COPD patients. Patients on the pathway will
also have access to navigator services.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Identified as having an acute exacerbation of COPD within 24 hours of admission

Exclusion Criteria:

- Death during the index encounter

- No initial discharge as of the end of the study period