Overview

• Published in July 2025 in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (DOI: 10.15326/jcopdf.2024.0585), the peer-reviewed study assessed a hospital pathway for suspected acute COPD exacerbations.
• Patients managed with the pathway had shorter hospital stays, were more often discharged home rather than to a facility, and received more referrals to pulmonary rehabilitation.
• The pathway delivered real-time, evidence-based guidance that standardized care processes and supported verification of COPD diagnoses.
• Despite measurable benefits, pathway use was infrequent at the study site, and the authors called for efforts to expand adoption and address implementation barriers.
• The single-center, observational design indicates associations rather than proven causation, according to lead author Nancy Kim of Yale School of Medicine.