International Journal of COPD (Apr 2022)
The Impact of the Pay-for-Performance Program on the Outcome of COPD Patients in Taiwan After One Year
Abstract
Kuo-Chen Cheng,1,* Chih-Cheng Lai,2,* Cheng-Yi Wang,3 Ching-Min Wang,4 Chung-Han Ho,5– 7 Mei-I Sung,1 Shu-Chen Hsing,1 Kuang-Ming Liao,8 Shian-Chin Ko1 1Department of Internal Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital Tainan Branch, Tainan, Taiwan; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Taiwan; 5Department of Medical Research, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; 6Cancer Center, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 11695, Taiwan; 7Department of Information Management, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan; 8Department of Internal Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Chiali, Taiwan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Kuang-Ming Liao, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Chiali, Taiwan, Email [email protected] Shian-Chin Ko, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan, Email [email protected]: To investigate the impact of a multidisciplinary intervention on the clinical outcomes of patients with COPD.Methods: This study retrospectively extracted the data of patients enrolled in the national pay-for-performance (P4P) program for COPD in four hospitals. Only COPD patients who received regular follow-up for at least one year in the P4P program between September 2018 and December 2020 were included.Results: A total of 1081 patients were included in this study. Among them, 424 (39.2%), 287 (26.5%), 179 (16.6%), and 191 (17.7%) patients were classified as COPD Groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. Dual therapy with long-acting β 2-agonist (LABA)/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) was the most used inhaled bronchodilator at baseline (n = 477, 44.1%) patients, followed by LAMA monotherapy (n = 195, 18.0%), triple therapy with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/LABA/LAMA (n = 184, 17.0%), and ICS/LABA combination (n = 165, 15.3%). After one year of intervention, 374 (34.6%) and 323 (29.9%) patients had their pre- and post-bronchodilator-forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) increase of more than 100 mL. Both the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) scores had a mean change of − 2.2 ± 5.5 and − 0.3 ± 0.9, respectively. The improvement in pulmonary function and symptom score were observed across four groups. The decreased number of exacerbations was only observed in Groups C and D, and not in Groups A and B.Conclusion: This real-world study demonstrated that the intervention in the P4P program could help improve the clinical outcome of COPD patients. It also showed us a different view on the use of dual therapy, which has a lower cost in Taiwan.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, dual therapy, Disease-Specific Care – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, DSC-COPD, certification program, Joint Commission of Taiwan, pay-for-performance, quality-improvement
