Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of hospital readmissions in America. Over one-third of patients admitted for COPD exacerbations are readmitted within 90 days, with readmissions costing $15 billion. Medicare instituted financial penalties for excessive readmissions after COPD hospitalizations, incentivizing the creation of readmission prediction tools. Two such tools, the [...]

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of hospital readmissions in America. Over one-third of patients admitted for COPD exacerbations are readmitted within 90 days, with readmissions costing $15 billion. Medicare instituted financial penalties for excessive readmissions after COPD hospitalizations, incentivizing the creation of readmission prediction tools. Two such tools, the [...]

Background: Revefenacin (REV), a once-daily, long-acting muscarinic antagonist for nebulized inhalation, was recently approved for maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We present post hoc efficacy and safety data from three phase 3 trials in patients with moderate to very severe COPD by patient subgroup (<65 y, 65–75 y, >75 y). Methods: This [...]

Background: Many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have suboptimal peak inspiratory flow rate (sPIFR) because of lung hyperinflation, hypoxemia, and muscle wasting, preventing effective use of dry powder inhalers commonly used to treat COPD. sPIFR and airflow limitation interaction may be responsible for excess symptoms in patients with COPD. Here we characterize baseline [...]

Background: Hospital Readmission Reduction Program(HRRP) implemented by CMS as part of Affordable Care Act (ACA) applies financial penalties to hospitals that have higher-than-expected readmission rates for common conditions such as AMI, pneumonia, and HF. CMS extended this program to include COPD for the fiscal year (FY) 2015. While there has been a reduction in readmissions, [...]