A3 · Post-acute transitional care
COPD post-discharge community paramedicine checks, coordinated from the hospital
Coordinate COPD home checks after discharge: inhaler technique, oxygen use, action plan review, and escalation rules that keep patients out of the ED.
Mission template A3 · COPD check
On scene- Received09:12
Referral raised by hospital cm, COPD or asthma discharge.
- Scheduled10:04
A program covering the address accepts inside the window: ≤72 hours, then day 7.
- En route13:06
Crew departs; the patient receives an arrival window by SMS.
- On scene14:11
SpO₂; Inhaler technique; Rescue plan review.
- Completed14:40
Outcome fields recorded (Inhaler technique corrected Y/N; Oxygen working Y/N); referrer notified.
Why this program
Most COPD readmissions are not new disease. They are inhaler technique that does not deliver the drug, an action plan nobody read, or a concentrator on the wrong setting.
A single in-home check by a paramedic who can watch the patient use the inhaler resolves problems no phone call surfaces.
The template is fixed so every referral arrives the same way: a defined trigger, a defined window, a defined skill set, and a defined set of outcome fields. That is what makes the work reportable later without asking crews to write anything twice.
Mission template A3
COPD check · sponsor persona: Hospital CM · window: ≤72 hours, then day 7 · single mission · tele-MD optional
Trigger and window
COPD or asthma discharge
Window: ≤72 hours, then day 7
Skills required: CP
Steps
- SpO₂
- Inhaler technique
- Rescue plan review
- Oxygen equipment check
- Smoking cessation referral
Outcome fields
- Inhaler technique corrected Y/N
- Oxygen working Y/N
- Rescue plan in home
Escalation and child orders
SpO₂ <88% on home oxygen or respiratory rate >24 → tele-MD
Child orders: Oxygen/DME, Pharmacy. Logistics requests are raised on VectorCare and tracked against the same mission.
What the sponsor sees
Respiratory and care-management teams see completion, saturation, and whether a supply gap was closed.
Status moves through received, scheduled, active, and completed, escalated or aborted. Exception statuses notify the referrer rather than waiting to be discovered at the end of the week.
What the program does
Accept, schedule, visit, and record the respiratory outcome fields; the ePCR keeps the full narrative.
Programs choose which templates they accept, and set their own coverage area and capacity. Nothing is auto-assigned.
What you can measure
- Share of COPD discharges touched inside 72 hours
- Technique corrections per 100 visits
- Child-order fulfilment time for spacers and supplies
- 30-day COPD readmission for the cohort
Figures shown elsewhere on this site are illustrative unless a source is given. Your reporting reflects your own missions.
Rural Health Transformation
This template maps to CMS strategic goals 1 and 4. Missions, outcome fields and county-level coverage export for state reporting.
DispatchCare is a technology vendor. It does not administer Rural Health Transformation funds.
Questions buyers ask
COPD or asthma discharge. DispatchCare does not receive 911 calls; emergency requests stay in the dispatch system.
Related mission templates
See a mission go from the chart to the home and back.
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