Reducing Hospital Readmissions with COPD: Rehab Management Strategies in the Skilled Nursing Facility

Course Description

The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) requires CMS to reduce payments to hospitals with excess readmissions within 30 days of discharge for the following conditions:  acute myocardial infarction (AMI), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), elective total hip arthroplasty (THA), elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA), heart failure (HF), and Pneumonia (including aspiration and sepsis).  In this webinar the topic of COPD will be explored.

According to Jencks, et al, the 30-day readmission rate for COPD is 22.6%, accounting for 4% of all 30-day readmissions.  Furthermore, in 2011, the AHRQ identified COPD as one of the top 20 most expensive conditions, costing Medicare $17 billion.  This course will discuss the pathology of and stages of COPD, SNF patient stratification based on functional mobility, treatment interventions, breathing strategies, patient education, outcome measures, and therapeutic interventions.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, the participant will be able to:

1) Discuss the pathology and stages of COPD

2) Stratify SNF patients based on level of function,

3) Identify the clinimetric properties of selected outcome measures,

4) Identify treatment strategies for COPD based on the patient’s level of function,

5) Discuss selected case studies.

• Prerequisites

  None

• Educational Level

  Intermediate

• Other

  Satisfactory completion of this course will require the participant to complete a 10 question post-test with a minimum passing score of 70%.