Coordination of care for patients with COPD: Clinical points of interest

Abstract

The management of care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease improved over the last years but is still very complex. Both over- and underdiagnosis are often reported and misclassification of disease severity is common. Differentiating between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome remains difficult. Much is known about the effectiveness of treatment approaches in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but patients are often not treated according to the guidelines, and we need more evidence on effectiveness in phenotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Care coordination is of great importance and can help to further improve care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Pulmonary rehabilitation and self-management are considered important aspects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease care. In our opinion, there is a major role for eHealth to improve coordination of care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.