New program aims to reduce hospital visits for COPD sufferers

A program that dropped hospital visits, emergency room visits and days spent in hospital by roughly 73 per cent or better for those suffering from a chronic lung disease, is coming to Hamilton. 

Hamilton Health Sciences announced Tuesday that Hamilton will be one of 19 cities to build on a Halifax, N.S. pilot project that used home health care for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a non-curable condition caused by smoking, in which 11,000 Canadians suffer severe respiratory problems.

Those breathing problems cause ambulance calls and repeated emergency room visits, something Liz Gerdel, 83, who was admitted to hospital twice in the last week, hopes to avoid.

"I don't have to keep coming back and forth to the hospital," said Gerdel, who says she smoked for "10 years, 45 years ago" but has been burden by breathing problems for the last five years. 

Building on a widely successful Halifax pilot project 

Using a visit from a respiratory therapist and nurse in the patient's home, the three partners in the project — Hamilton General Hospital, VitalAire Canada and Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre — will run a year-long project aimed at reducing hospital visits and admissions. 

In Halifax, Dr. Graeme Rocker piloted INSPIRE (Implementing Novel and Supportive Programs for Individuals and families living with Respiratory Disease), which in 2012 reported a 73 per cent drop in emergency room visits, a 78 per cent drop in hospital admissions, and an 80 per cent drop in days spent in hospital, according to a Healthy Debate report. 

'More modest' goals for Hamilton

"Our goals are a little bit more modest," said Teresa Smith, president of Hamilton General.

They're aiming for a five to ten per cent drop in each of the aforementioned benchmarks, numbers they hope to assess at the six, 12 and 18 month mark of the year-long program. 

While Smith said she was hopeful the project would be permanent, she did not commit to a time where a decision must be made to extend or permanently implement the project, adding that it's based on the its success for the roughly 350 COPD patients treated by the hospital every year.

But if it works, Smith said to expect it at Juravinski soon. 

Smith said COPD effects a quarter of the population at some point in their life, and directly and indirectly has a $3.9-billion impact on health care in Ontario annually. 

"That's only expected to increase," Smith said. 

One in five hospital visits results in an admission, and their average stay is "longer" than the average patient. 

The program is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI). In all 19 sites, including Hamilton General and Burlington's Joseph Brant Hospital, will be involved. Each site is provided with $50,000 in administrative funding. The Halifax program cost $250,000 to implement, and saved an estimated $900,000 in health care costs.