When your patients experience a severe respiratory infection from a preexisting lung condition like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), providing them access to effective airway clearance therapy is vital to their comfort and relief. It’s also essential to the success of your hospital’s inpatient care program.
At Electromed, our team helps physicians across the country implement high frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) therapy in hospital settings. Working with hospital care teams and administrators, we provide a simple solution to airway clearance that is proven to help break the cycle of chronic lung infections and keep patients out of the hospital.[1]
Today, hospitals face financial pressures to reduce COPD readmissions while improving inpatient care programs. The growing number of COPD readmissions may be due to a prevalence of bronchiectasis in your patients.
Did you know that of the 16.4 million Americans living with COPD[2], approximately half of these individuals may also live with comorbid bronchiectasis?[3] Without access to adequate airway clearance therapy, patients may not be receiving the best treatment options to manage their bronchiectasis symptoms, which could then lead to more frequent respiratory infections requiring rehospitalization.
Benefits of Inpatient Vest Therapy to Clinicians and Care Teams
By incorporating SmartVest into your continuum of care program, your hospital will benefit from a streamlined solution that is designed to provide better inpatient care, speed patient recovery, and set up continuous treatment at home to improve outcomes and help reduce pulmonary readmissions. With an unparalleled commitment to customer care, our support team is here to help you throughout the entire patient journey.
SmartVest works by delivering repeated pulses of air that gently squeeze and release the upper chest wall to help loosen mucus and propel it towards major airways where it can be more easily coughed out. Compared to other respiratory vests on the market, SmartVest is the only HFCWO therapy device with proven studies demonstrating its effectiveness in:
Benefits of Inpatient Vest Therapy to Your Patients
Following a confirmed bronchiectasis diagnosis and a simple prescription process for the SmartVest Airway Clearance System, you’ll be able to provide your patients access to effective in-home HFCWO therapy upon discharge, so they can continue to experience relief from their symptoms.
Once you prescribe SmartVest, our team will work diligently to process the reimbursement and prepare each vest for shipment and delivery so when the patient arrives home they can continue therapy as directed, without missing a beat. We will also reach out to your patients to coordinate a SmartVest training with one of our respiratory therapists. On the date of the scheduled training session, your patient will learn how to operate SmartVest independently, thereby promoting greater patient adherence to therapy.
And support doesn’t stop there. Patients receive a dedicated patient care team member who will follow-up with them to see how treatment is going as well as access to the patient services line, open 365 days a year if any questions arise.
Upgrade Your Continuum of Care Program with SmartVest Today!
To learn more about how inpatient vest therapy can benefit your hospital, contact the SmartVest support team. We’ll partner with your hospital care team and design a custom plan that helps streamline your prescription process with a secure e-prescribe solution and equip your patients with a simple, easy-to-use airway clearance device they can perform from anywhere.
Call us at 800.462.1045 to get started with SmartVest!
[1] Sievert CE, et al. 2016. Using High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation in a Bronchiectasis Patient Population: An Outcomes-Based Case Review. Respiratory Therapy, 11(4), 34–38.
[2] The American Lung Association. “How Serious is COPD.” Retrieved from https://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/copd/learn-about-copd/how-serious-is-copd.html
[3] Chalmers J. and Sethi S. Raising awareness of bronchiectasis in primary care: overview of diagnosis and management strategies in adults. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2017;27:18.
[4] Powner, Jordan, et al. Employment of an Algorithm of Care Including Chest Physiotherapy Results in Reduced Hospitalizations and Stability of Lung Function in Bronchiectasis. BMC Pulmonary Medicine, BioMed Central. 25 Apr. 2019.
