From asthma severity to asthma control: identification of new guidelines.

Background: Managed care pharmacists utilize clinical guidelines to assist them in identifying acceptable treatment and management of chronic diseases. For the past several months, an expert panel representing the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) has discussed updated asthma guidelines, which could change future medication management of patients with asthma.

Objective: To identify new guidelines for asthma control.

Operating a sustainable disease management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of our nation's most rapidly growing chronic health conditions. It is estimated that over 16 million individuals are diagnosed with COPD (Friedman & Hilleman, 2001). In addition, another 16 million are misdiagnosed as asthma or not diagnosed at all.