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| |  Pulmonary Rehab Decreases Respiratory Hospitalizations and ER Visits By Linda Little SAN DIEGO, CA -- June 2, 2005 -- Pulmonary rehabilitation programs can reduce hospitalizations and emergency visits due to lung disease, according to research reported here May 24th at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation had reduced hospital days, hospital costs, and related emergency room visits one year after pulmonary rehabilitation. The investigators reviewed the charts of 125 patients who participated in a 6-week, 12-visit pulmonary rehabilitation program at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, California, United States. Two-thirds of the patients were female; the majority of the patients had obstructive lung disease. Twenty patients were not included in the study because they either died or did not complete the rehabilitation program. Medical records were analyzed for a subset of 46 patients who received all medical care at one community hospital. Total cost per day per patient at the hospital was $1,987, with the cost of providing pulmonary rehabilitation to one patient being $1,544. Providing pulmonary rehabilitation reduced hospital days by 39%, from a total of 133 days for the 46 patients pre-rehabilitation to 81 days after rehabilitation. The mean length of stay prior to rehabilitation was about three days; after rehabilitation, the mean length of stay dropped to about 1.8 days. "This represents a 1.22 [day] reduction in the respiratory-related acute care hospital days," the researchers reported. "This amounts to a savings of $880 a patient." Additionally, treadmill distance for the patients more than doubled after rehabilitation, from.29 miles before to.86 miles after. For all patients undergoing rehabilitation, the 6-minute walking distance increased from 1,035 feet before rehabilitation to 1,205 feet after rehabilitation, researchers reported. "For the Seton Medical Center subset, patients demonstrated a decrease in acute care hospital days, inpatient cost, and related emergency visits one year after pulmonary rehabilitation," the researchers concluded.
[Presentation title: Long Term Decrease in Respiratory Hospitalizations and Respiratory Emergency Visits Following Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR). Mini Symposium: C87.]
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