COPD transitions of care work at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison developed by Ed Portillo, assistant faculty associate in the Pharmacy Practice Division, has been nationally recognized by the current Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David J. Shulkin.

COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. The service positioned pharmacists as prescribers for patients who visited the emergency department or hospital with a COPD exacerbation. An exacerbation of COPD is a sustained worsening of the patient’s condition, from the stable state and beyond normal day-to-day variations that is acute in onset and may warrant additional treatment. Pharmacists in this service collaborated with primary care providers and nurses to provide comprehensive COPD care. Patients who participated in this service had 0% readmissions to the hospital or emergency department within 30 days, compared with 16.2% readmission rate in a control group. Portillo’s work will be published in a book spotlighting top initiatives within the Veterans Affairs nationally.

Portillo joined the School in July 2016 following a two-year residency in Health System Pharmacy Administration at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. His research interests are focused both in curriculum innovation and pharmacy practice advancement. He is also involved in development and measurement of innovative pharmacist services in practice, focused on pharmacist prescribing within inter-professional teams to elevate the level of care provided to patients.