Chest
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Patients with advanced respiratory illness are often hospitalized, requiring close follow-up after discharge and also requiring care coordination outside of traditional face-to-face outpatient visits. Primary care providers and specialists often provide services outside of outpatient visits that have not been captured and reimbursed with traditional billing evaluation and management codes. ⋯ Transitional care management includes the 30-day period following hospitalization in which a clinician is responsible for care of the patient postdischarge from the hospital. Chronic care management provides reimbursement for coordination of care for chronic conditions that is performed by any clinician and his or her staff on a monthly basis that is > 20 min in duration.
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As seen in this CME online activity (available at http://copdcme.elsevierresource.com/, COPD is characterized by pulmonary airflow obstruction that is not completely reversible. COPD presents clinically with diverse phenotypes ranging from relatively asymptomatic people to patients with severe chronic cough, abnormal sputum production, and dyspnea with exertion. Exacerbations accelerate the downward cycle of breathing difficulties, activity avoidance, and physical decline that characterizes progressive COPD. ⋯ Evidence-based education that addresses individualized maintenance regimens are needed to improve long-term outcomes in COPD. Within this CME/CE Snapshot educational series, an expert pulmonologist and a primary care educator discuss how to best longitudinally evaluate patients with COPD and incorporate the principles of pulmonary rehabilitation to maximize patient function and quality of life. They explain therapeutic tailoring over the course of disease and describe the importance of engaging patients in shared decision-making to promote acceptance of the diagnosis, appropriate physical activity, and treatment adherence.
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As seen in this CME online activity (available at http://courses.elseviercme.com/730), COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States among people 65 years of age and older and the fourth leading cause of death among people 45 to 65 years of age. A recent survey reported that about 12 to 15 million people in the United States have physician-diagnosed COPD. However, COPD is significantly underdiagnosed, and data suggest as many as 12 million people in the United States have undiagnosed COPD. ⋯ This CME-certified webcast provides insights into new approaches to identifying patients with undiagnosed COPD, the importance of early initiation of pharmacologic treatment in a guideline-congruent manner, and the importance of repeated patient training in correct inhaler techniques to improve adherence and patient outcomes. Additionally, the online program is part of a larger learning platform (available at https://copd.elsevierresource.com/) that provides free access to the latest clinical information related to the diagnosis and management of COPD. The COPD Learning Center is a freely accessible platform that aims to increase clinical knowledge by providing CME activities, research articles, and resources for health-care providers who treat patients with COPD.