Outpatient Follow-up Visit and 30-Day Emergency Department Visit and Readmission in Patients Hospitalized for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

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Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and the only disease associated with both increasing morbidity and mortality over the past 30 years.1 Research has consistently shown that patients with COPD have exceedingly high rates of hospitalization and emergency department (ER) visits. In 2000, COPD resulted in 726 000 hospitalizations and 1.5 million ER visits in the United States.2 One in 5 patients discharged with COPD is rehospitalized within 30 days of discharge.3,4 A recent study of over 11 million Medicare beneficiaries found COPD to be the third most common cause of 30-day rehospitalization.4