Severe Asthma and the Primary Care Provider: Identifying Patients and Coordinating Multidisciplinary Care

Without proper care, patients with severe forms of asthma face substantial medical risks, marked reductions in quality of life, and other significant disease-related burdens. Therefore, it is essential that primary care clinicians and other healthcare providers are adept at identifying cases of severe asthma on the basis of symptom control, exacerbation risks, and the need for relatively aggressive treatment regimens (eg, high-dose inhaled corticosteroids with long-acting controller medications or frequent oral corticosteroid use). Engaging and educating affected individuals as part of ongoing treatment planning are best achieved with a good understanding of patients' own insights into their disease and management challenges that often arise in busy healthcare practices. This includes effectively communicating with patients about the implications of their diagnosis and potential treatment strategies that can be accessed via coordinated multidisciplinary care. Expert primary care and specialist faculty have highlighted strategies to identify cases of severe asthma, appropriate referral pathways for these individuals, and considerations on integrating patients' perspectives into clinical decision making across the continuum of care (access to an accredited educational program on these topics is available at http://courses.elseviercme.com/pcp/687). Additionally, this online program is a component of a larger platform of education activities and consolidated clinical resources designed to improve the care of patients with respiratory disorders (http://respiratorycme.elsevierresource.com/).