For Physicians
Contact Information for Referring Physicians
The Temple Lung Center staff is committed to providing your patients with the highest quality care and most advanced treatments. We are one of the largest pulmonary referral centers in the nation. Our patients cross the spectrum of disease from outpatients with moderate chronic conditions to seriously ill patients in respiratory failure.
Temple is a High-Volume Referral Center with Documented Superior Outcomes
Temple Researchers are Reshaping the Standard of Care for Seriously Ill Patients
Temple is Educating Pulmonary Specialists for a Rapidly Evolving Specialty
Temple is a High-Volume Referral Center with Documented Superior Outcomes
Thanks to our large clinical practice and our thriving research and education programs our outcomes are among the best in the region for conditions such as COPD, respiratory failure, bronchitis, asthma, and infectious pulmonary diseases. We excel in helping seriously ill, difficult-to-diagnose, or treatment-refractory patients. The most recent PHC4 statistics indicate, for example, that we had more COPD admissions than any other single hospital in the state1. We also have a national reputation for successful weaning of chronically ventilated patients, with recent data showing that we managed more cases of respiratory failure than any other hospital in Central or Eastern Pennsylvania1. In recent years, our programs in lung transplantation, lung volume reduction surgery, and other complex lung procedures have also expanded greatly to meet the growing need for surgical solutions.
Temple Researchers are Reshaping the Standard of Care for Seriously Ill Patients
Research provides an extra edge to all of Temple’s clinical programs. Over the past ten years, as advances in molecular biology and medical technology have been applied to respiratory medicine, the opportunities for developing novel treatments for patients with severe lung disease have blossomed. Our staff has chosen to pursue highly practical research efforts with near-term goals aimed at slowing disease progression, limiting symptoms, preventing complications, and avoiding risky surgery with alternative therapies. For example, our clinicians have conducted a wide range of trials examining new agents for COPD, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and immunosuppression in patients undergoing lung transplantation. We are also studying new bronchoscopic lung volume reduction techniques for the treatment of hyperinflation in emphysema—including instilation of sclerosant biogels and placement of endobronchial valves. This involvement in research paves the way for future therapies and allows us to gain immediate first-hand knowledge of the latest trends in therapy and patient care.
Temple is Educating Pulmonary Specialists for a Rapidly Evolving Specialty
The Temple Lung Center is also proud to be educating the next generation of pulmonologists and critical care physicians for a rapidly evolving specialty and for the growing demand for specialists who can manage age-related lung ailments. We currently have 14 fellows throughout the center, and these young clinicians provide hands-on care, clinical support, and quality checks for patients at every level of advanced care. We believe, and studies have confirmed2, that involvement of trainees in care improves hospital outcomes. In fact, much of our success in weaning patients from ventilator support is likely due to the added coverage provided by the fellows in our high dependency intensive care unit. With today’s unprecedented advances in our understanding of lung disease, education cannot be confined to those still in formal training. That is why the Temple Lung Center is also committed to helping physicians throughout our medical center and the region stay up to date on all the new tests and therapies for advanced lung diseases.
Sources
1 Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) 2006 Hospital Performance Report (2007)
2 Criner GJ et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1999;160:2018-2027
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