3rd Health Care Roundtable Focuses On Advances In Managing Non-Hospital-Based Asthmatic And COPD Patients

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Smoking / Quit Smoking;  Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 31 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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The examination of clinical, technical, managerial and financial components of healthcare delivery to the non hospital-bound asthmatic and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) patient will be the topic of Stevens Institute of Technology's next healthcare roundtable, to be held today Wednesday, October 31, 2007, from 3-5 p.m. in Room 122 of The Babbio Center (located on 6th and River Streets in Hoboken, NJ).

Roundtable participants will discuss the role of mobile information system platforms, portable spirometry, web-based specialist networks, smoking cessation efforts, nursing home and home care organization support, nutrition and exercise, and other related factors.

Approximately 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma, defined as a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway causing shortness of breath, tightness of the chest, coughing and wheezing. In addition, asthma and allergies strike 1 out of 4 Americans. The economic impact of treating asthma is sizable. For example:

* Direct health care costs for asthma in the United States total $18 billion annually, $5 billion of which are for prescription drugs.

* Due to asthma, every day in America 40,000 people miss school or work; 30,000 people have an asthma attack; 5,000 people visit the emergency room; and 1,000 people are admitted to the hospital.

Currently, it is estimated that 16 million people in the United States are diagnosed with COPD, an umbrella term used to describe lung disease associated with airflow obstruction. Most generally, emphysema and chronic bronchitis, either alone or combined, fall into this category. COPD is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the US and is projected to be the third leading cause of death by the year 2020. Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor and is directly related to the progression of this disease. The economic impact of COPD, like asthma, is sizable. For example:

* The total estimated cost of COPD in 2002 was $32 billion -- $18 billion for direct costs and $14 million for indirect costs.

* In 2000, about 1.5 million emergency room visits made by adults 25 and older were due to COPD.

The forum will provide professionals from diverse backgrounds -- including researchers, physicians, vendors, and healthcare administrators -- the opportunity to discuss obstacles and solutions for enhancing healthcare delivery to these patients. Patrick A. Berzinski, Director of University Communications at Stevens, will moderate the forum.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross-disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master's and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens' graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at http://www.stevens.edu/.

Source: Maria Molina
Stevens Institute of Technology