Amedisys Unveils Program for Its 60,000 COPD Patients
October 12 2017 - 6:30AM
In keeping with its growing efforts to tackle the most serious
chronic illnesses, Amedisys Inc., (Nasdaq:AMED), a leading home
health, hospice and personal care company, recently launched its
second nationwide clinical program this year.
The new initiative will serve home health patients with COPD, or
chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, a group of
breathing-related diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis
and in some cases asthma. In 2016, Amedisys treated more than
60,000 patients who were diagnosed with COPD, now ranked as the
third leading cause of death in the United States.
The COPD program at Amedisys is similar in patient empowerment
methodology to a heart failure program Amedisys rolled out in
February. At last count, Amedisys had enrolled more than 19,000
patients in its heart failure program. Last year, Amedisys treated
some 100,000 patients diagnosed with heart failure.
The new COPD program is likewise interdisciplinary and
evidence-based, in this case on guidelines from the Global
Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease or GOLD standard.
Amedisys will deploy its clinicians to educate – and ultimately
empower – patients and their families to manage COPD at home.
In the process, patients and caregivers will receive a COPD
toolkit and individualized plan of care in conjunction with
physician orders. Patients will thereby learn to make critical
lifestyle changes intended to help identify and treat symptoms at
home, manage medication and therapies which will in turn reduce
exacerbations and decrease anxiety. For example, patients will
learn to monitor themselves for symptoms and document personal
progress on a checklist, and will be educated about breathing
techniques, airway clearance and energy conservation.
“The key benefit of our new COPD program is that patients and
family members can learn what they can do to help themselves,” says
Susan Sender, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at
Amedisys. “The more they help themselves, the better we can help
them.”
The program’s goal is to achieve a higher quality of life --
maintaining wellness and fostering independence – while promoting
effective patient-doctor communications, improving functional
status, decreasing shortness of breath, preventing avoidable
hospital readmissions and lowering costs.
For more information on Amedisys’ COPD program, or to learn more
about how home health can help you or your loved one,
click here.
About Amedisys Amedisys, Inc. is a
leading healthcare at home Company delivering personalized home
health, hospice and personal care. Amedisys is focused on
delivering the care that is best for our patients, whether that is
home-based personal care; recovery and rehabilitation after an
operation or injury; care focused on empowering them to manage a
chronic disease; or hospice care at the end of life. More than
2,200 hospitals and 61,900 physicians nationwide have chosen
Amedisys as a partner in post-acute care. Founded in 1982,
headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA with an executive office in
Nashville, TN, Amedisys is a publicly held company. With
approximately 16,000 employees, in 421 care centers in 34 states,
Amedisys is dedicated to delivering the highest quality of care to
the doorsteps of more than 385,000 patients in need every year. For
more information about the Company, please
visit www.amedisys.com.
Contact:Kendra KimmonsVice President of
Marketing &
Communications225-299-3708kendra.kimmons@amedisys.com
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