Assessing the need for a clinical COPD care program in a managed care organization.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a systemic inflammatory condition, is costly and often devastating to patient quality of life. COPD is also greatly underdiagnosed and often inappropriately treated. A managed care organization therefore evaluated whether a systemwide COPD clinical program within its organization may be appropriate. The organization examined the current prevalence, costs, and adherence to clinical treatment guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence and costs of COPD within the managed care organization and to ascertain whether the condition could be better managed using a systemwide clinical program. CONCLUSION: Both diagnosis and treatment of COPD would likely be improved with a comprehensive clinical COPD care program that would include measuring outcomes, stratifying COPD patients by risk, and initiating disease state management efforts.