Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
and heart failure (HF) are chronic diseases that impart significant
health and care costs to the patient and health system.
Limited access to health services affects disease severity
and functional status. Telemonitoring has shown promise in
reducing acute care utilization for chronic disease patients,
but the benefit for the underserved has not been determined.
We evaluated acute care utilization outcomes following an
acute event of a 90-day transitional care program integrating
telemonitoring technology and home visits for underserved
COPD and HF patients. Materials and Methods: Patients
were enrolled into the program between October 2010 and
August 2012. Primary outcomes included rates of emergency
department (ED) visits and all-cause re-admission at 30, 90,
and 180 days postdischarge. Program and functional status
at enrollment and discharge and satisfaction with telemonitoring
at discharge were measured. Telemonitoring included
daily symptomatology recording and was removed at
90 days. A control cohort was identified through electronic
health records and propensity-matched via 15 variables to
achieve a sample size with balanced baseline characteristics.
Results: Program patients showed 50% reduction in 30-day
re-admission and 13–19% reduction in 180-day re-admission
compared with control patients. There was no significant
difference in ED utilization. Patients were satisfied with telemonitoring
services, and functional status improved by
program end. Conclusions: This feasibility study suggests
telemonitoring in the context of a transitional care model
following an acute event may reduce all-cause 30-day re-admissions
by up to 50% and has the potential to reduce longterm
acute care utilization and thus care costs. More rigorous
and long-term investigation is warranted.