Coordinated-Transitional Care for Veterans with Heart Failure and Chronic Lung Disease.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) account for most 30-day hospital readmissions nationwide. The Coordinated-Transitional Care (C-TraC) program is a telephone-based, nurse-driven intervention shown to decrease readmissions in Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA hospitals. The goal of this project was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of adapting C-TraC to meet the needs of complex patients with CHF and COPD in a large urban tertiary care VA medical center. DESIGN: We used the Replicating Effective Programs model to guide the implementation. The C-TraC nurse received intensive training in cardiology and pulmonology and worked closely with both inpatient and outpatient providers to coordinate care. Eligible patients were admitted with CHF or COPD and had at least one additional risk for readmission. SETTING: The nurse met patients in the hospital, participated in their discharge planning, and then provided intensive case management for up to 4 weeks. PARTICIPANTS: Over its initial 14 months, the program successfully enrolled 299 veterans with good fidelity to the protocol. MEASUREMENTS: A total of 43 (15.8%) C-TraC participants were rehospitalized within 30 days compared with 172 (21.0%) of historical controls matched 3:1 on age, risk of 90-day hospital admission, and discharge diagnosis. RESULTS: Participants were 54% less likely to be rehospitalized (odds ratio = .46; 95% CI = .24-.89). CONCLUSION: The program was financially sustainable. The total cost of care in the 30-day postdischarge period was $1842.52 less per C-TraC patient than per controls, leading the medical center to sustain and expand the program.

Epidemiological trends in invasive mechanical ventilation in the United States: A population-based study.

PURPOSE: Epidemiological trends for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) have not been clearly defined. We sought to define trends for IMV in the United States and assess for disease-specific variation for 3 common causes of respiratory failure: pneumonia, heart failure (HF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: We calculated national estimates for utilization of nonsurgical IMV cases from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 1993 to 2009 and compared trends for COPD, HF, and pneumonia. RESULTS: We identified 8309344 cases of IMV from 1993 to 2009. Utilization of IMV for nonsurgical indications increased from 178.9 per 100000 in 1993 to 310.9 per 100000 US adults in 2009. Pneumonia cases requiring IMV showed the largest increase (103.6%), whereas COPD cases remained relatively stable (2.5% increase) and HF cases decreased by 55.4%. Similar demographic and clinical changes were observed for pneumonia, COPD, and HF, with cases of IMV becoming younger, more ethnically diverse, and more frequently insured by Medicaid. Outcome trends for patients differed based on diagnosis. Adjusted hospital mortality decreased over time for cases of pneumonia (odds ratio [OR] per 5 years, 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88-0.90) and COPD (OR per 5 years, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.97-0.98) but increased for HF (OR per 5 years, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.09-1.12). CONCLUSION: Utilization of IMV in the US increased from 1993 to 2009 with a decrease in overall mortality. However, trends in utilization and outcomes of IMV differed markedly based on diagnosis. Unlike favorable outcome trends in pneumonia and COPD, hospital mortality for HF has not improved. Further studies to investigate the outcome gap between HF and other causes of respiratory failure are needed.

Trends in Tracheostomy for Mechanically Ventilated Patients in the United States, 1993-2012.

RATIONALE: National trends in tracheostomy for mechanical ventilation (MV) patients are not well characterized. OBJECTIVES: To investigate trends in tracheostomy use, timing, and outcomes in the United States. METHODS: We calculated estimates of tracheostomy use and outcomes from the National Inpatient Sample from 1993 to 2012. We used hierarchical models to determine factors associated with tracheostomy use among MV patients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified 1,352,432 adults who received tracheostomy from 1993 to 2012 (9.1% of MV patients). Tracheostomy was more common in surgical patients, men, and racial/ethnic minorities. Age-adjusted incidence of tracheostomy increased by 106%, rising disproportionately to MV use. Among MV patients, tracheostomy rose from 6.9% in 1993 to 9.8% in 2008, and then it declined to 8.7% in 2012 (P < 0.0001). Increases in tracheostomy use were driven by surgical patients (9.5% in 1993; 15.0% in 2012; P < 0.0001), with little change among nonsurgical patients (5.8% in 1993; 5.9% in 2012; P < 0.0001). Over time, tracheostomies were performed earlier (median, 11 d in 1998; 10 d in 2012; P < 0.0001), whereas hospital length of stay declined (median, 39 d in 1993; 26 d in 2012; P < 0.0001), discharges to long-term facilities increased (40.1% vs. 71.9%; P < 0.0001), and hospital mortality declined (38.1% vs. 14.7%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Over the past two decades, tracheostomy use rose substantially in the United States until 2008, when use began to decline. The observed dramatic increase in discharge of tracheostomy patients to long-term care facilities may have significant implications for clinical care, healthcare costs, policy, and research. Future studies should include long-term facilities when analyzing outcomes of tracheostomy.

Airway resistance at maximum inhalation as a marker of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness.

BACKGROUND: Asthmatics exhibit reduced airway dilation at maximal inspiration, likely due to structural differences in airway walls and/or functional differences in airway smooth muscle, factors that may also increase airway responsiveness to bronchoconstricting stimuli. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the minimal airway resistance achievable during a maximal inspiration (R(min)) is abnormally elevated in subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness. METHODS: The R(min) was measured in 34 nonasthmatic and 35 asthmatic subjects using forced oscillations at 8 Hz. R(min) and spirometric indices were measured before and after bronchodilation (albuterol) and bronchoconstriction (methacholine). A preliminary study of 84 healthy subjects first established height dependence of baseline R(min) values. RESULTS: Asthmatics had a higher baseline R(min) % predicted than nonasthmatic subjects (134 ± 33 vs. 109 ± 19 % predicted, p = 0.0004). Sensitivity-specificity analysis using receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that baseline R(min) was able to identify subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness (PC20 < 16 mg/mL) better than most spirometric indices (Area under curve = 0.85, 0.78, and 0.87 for R(min) % predicted, FEV1 % predicted, and FEF25-75 % predicted, respectively). Also, 80% of the subjects with baseline R(min) < 100% predicted did not have airway hyperresponsiveness while 100% of subjects with R(min) > 145% predicted had hyperresponsive airways, regardless of clinical classification as asthmatic or nonasthmatic. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that baseline R(min), a measurement that is easier to perform than spirometry, performs as well as or better than standard spirometric indices in distinguishing subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness from those without hyperresponsive airways. The relationship of baseline R(min) to asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness likely reflects a causal relation between conditions that stiffen airway walls and hyperresponsiveness. In conjunction with symptom history, R(min) could provide a clinically useful tool for assessing asthma and monitoring response to treatment.