• Do not assume that you know the impact of COPD on your institution before you have done a formal assessment (ER visits, admissions, etc.).
• Most of these sources of information rely on reported Diagnoses of COPD, although many of these patients will not have had a spirometry test to confirm the diagnosis.
• Emergency room statistics may not necessarily record every diagnosis. They could be based on the symptoms observed; in this case, you would have to review patient charts.
• These sources of data could underestimate the incidence of COPD or specific aspects of your practices (best practices) in your hospital.
• Be sure to include in your search the secondary diagnosis, especially when evaluating in-hospital mortality. COPD is seldom referred as the cause of death, and there is confounding with respiratory failure, pneumonia and congestive heart failure (CHF), just to mention a few.

 

 

Do not assume that you know the impact of COPD on your institution before you have done a formal assessment.