Discharge Care Bundle to Reduce COPD 30-Day Readmission Rates in a Hospital Acute Care Unit

Practice Problem: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) readmissions severely impact patients’ health, mortality, and quality of life and increase unnecessary healthcare use and spending. Utilization of a protocol and discharge care bundle to reduce the readmission rate for COPD patients is critical to combat the problem. PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was in adult patients 65 years or older admitted to a hospital acute care unit for acute exacerbation of COPD (P), does a protocol and discharge care bundle (I) compared to no protocol and no discharge care bundle (C) reduce the 30-day hospital COPD readmission rate (O) within 10 weeks (T)? Evidence: A review of the evidence supported the implementation of a discharge care bundle to reduce the COPD readmission rate for this project. Intervention: The evidence-based intervention utilized the implementation of a protocol and discharge care bundle. The bundle included COPD education, action plan, inhaler technique, referral to smoking cessation or pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and a follow-up visit. Outcome: Results showed an 18.2% readmission rate for the pre-intervention group and a 16.7% readmission rate for the post-intervention group; both were lower than the national average of 19.6%. However, data analysis using a two-tailed paired samples t-test found the findings were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The project achieved a COPD readmission rate less than the national average, but the results were not statistically significant. However, the project demonstrated clinical significance in providing a foundation to improve the clinical care process for COPD patients.