Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Care

Living with COPD can be challenging, but you don’t have to face it alone. El Camino Health offers personalized treatment, education and coaching through our 2 BREATHE (Be Resilient EAch Time after a Hospital Event) Program.

You work with a respiratory therapist and a pulmonary nurse practitioner who give you individual attention and support to help you feel better and improve your quality of life. They work closely with your pulmonologist and your primary care doctor to give you complete care.

We make it easy for you and your team to stay in contact using the 2 BREATHE Chat personal messaging system. It allows us to contact you via text or email to ask you how you’re feeling. We send you helpful videos, educational links and reminders to help you stay on track. It lets us keep in touch with you between visits and helps you understand what to expect during treatment.

Your team will also make sure you follow up with appointments, including:

• Pulmonary rehabilitation
• Pulmonary function testing
• Primary care appointments
• Smoking-cessation counseling, if applicable.

Whether you begin the 2 BREATHE program in the hospital or use the program’s outpatient services — called the Chronic Respiratory Disease Program — we make taking care of your health a little easier.

Personalized Care in the Hospital

If you’re hospitalized for a chronic lung condition, your team will educate you and your loved ones about the disease. You learn about your medications and how to recognize symptoms that need medical attention. We also give you information to help you stay healthy and keep you out of the hospital.

Your team:

• Reviews the medicines you usually use and compare them to those prescribed during your hospital stay. Your team will make any necessary adjustments before you go home.
• Talks to you about your ongoing needs before you’re discharged from the hospital. You’ll receive a written action plan to take home.
• Keeps an eye on your recovery progress by following up with you regularly for 90 days after your hospital stay using 2 BREATHE Chat.

Chronic Respiratory Disease Program

If you’re living with chronic lung disease, you need to know how to take care of yourself. When you manage your condition well, it helps you feel better and can keep you out of the hospital.

The Chronic Respiratory Disease Program doesn’t replace regular visits with your primary care doctor or pulmonologist — it’s an added level of support to help improve how you feel.

Your 2 BREATHE care team:

• Educates you about your condition.
• Reviews all your treatments with you, such as medicines, oxygen therapy, mucus clearance techniques and infection prevention strategies.
• Provides smoking-cessation counseling, if needed.
• Coordinates follow-up appointments with your doctor.
• Suggests other services and resources that can help, such as the Better Breather's Club & Support Group, a dietitian or a medical social worker.
• Follows up with you regularly using 2 BREATHE Chat to monitor your condition. With 2 BREATHE chat, you will receive personalized, automated check-in messages on your phone or computer. 

You meet with your team once a month. Medicare and Medi-Cal cover these visits.

Talk to your doctor to find out if the 2 BREATHE Program is right for you.