Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fifth biggest killer in the UK – and the cost of managing it is huge. At close to £2,500 per emergency hospital admission, it can cut a big chunk into any Primary Care Trust (PCT) budget.

Axis-Shield UK is spearheading a revolution in the way COPD is being monitored and controlled. Using portable hand held devices that offer all the sophistication of laboratory testing without any of the waiting time, PCTs are cutting the cost of healthcare. Unnecessary hospitalisation is being cut, treatments are being allied more closely to patients’ needs, and nurses are given the means to perform their roles more efficiently than ever before.

The power at your fingertips

Of course it’s easy to draw a theoretical link from an extended availability of portable diagnostic equipment to a reduction in emergency admissions – but practically, how does that work?

The cost savings soon stack up. Devices like the Abbott i-STAT give nurses a non-interpretative basis for treatment. Straightaway that eliminates any uncertainty over whether hospitalisation is required. Previously nurses would err on the side of caution – send the patient to hospital for further tests (at considerable expense) and the PCT would pick up the bill. No  longer.

Care time is substantially reduced. Outpatient appointments are cut – tests are conducted in patients’ homes or at local clinics instead. Time taken to assess test results is negligible – Abbott i-STAT delivers laboratory equivalent results in minutes – so appointment times are reduced too.

As easy as 1, 2, 3

It only takes one device and two or three minutes to make the kind of decision that could otherwise have necessitated hospitalisation and a battery of tests. And how much would that cost the PCT?

There is a very clear link between increased availability of near patient diagnostic procedures and reductions in emergency admissions to hospital. PCTs are finding out for themselves how they can extend their healthcare provision to COPD patients and cut their costs.

Call us on 01480 862100 or email COPD@axis-shieldUK.com to find out more.