COPD Exacerbation Follow Up

A Multicenter Study of the Impact of a COPD Identification and Referral System on Patient Follow Up and Outcomes After an Acute COPD Exacerbation Resulting in an Emergency Department Visit or Hospitalization

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of implementing an AI-enabled clinical workflow tool (Viz COPD) on respiratory specialist follow up and clinical outcomes after an acute exacerbation.

Time perspective: This study will collect data prospectively for the Experimental cohort and retrospectively for the Control cohort. There is also an Exploratory cohort which will collect retrospective and prospective data.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged 40 years or older at the time of arrival to the emergency department.
• Patients with a clinical diagnosis of COPD who present to the emergency department for a moderate or severe COPD exacerbation.
• A moderate exacerbation is defined as an acute exacerbation requiring either systemic corticosteroids (such as intramuscular, intravenous or oral) and/or antibiotics.
• A severe exacerbation is defined as an acute exacerbation requiring hospitalization, or observation for >24 hours in emergency department/urgent care facility or resulting in death.
• Patients on dual (LABA/LAMA, LABA/ICS, LAMA/ICS) or triple (LABA/LAMA/ICS) long-acting bronchodilator inhalers.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients on bronchodilator inhaler monotherapy.
• Patients leaving against medical advice or expiring during hospitalization.
• Patients with tracheostomy.
• Patients with advanced cancer.
• Patients who have received a lung transplant.
• Discharge to hospice care.
• Transfer to another hospital.