Why is it important to test for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD?

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. COPD can be caused by damage to the lungs over many years. If you have COPD, you may have trouble breathing and be short of breath. These attacks can be scary. Finding and treating COPD early is important. A breathing test can help identify the type of lung disease and check to see how well your treatment is working.

How should doctors test for COPD?

If you are newly diagnosed with COPD, your doctor should give you a breathing test to measure how well your lungs take in and release air. This test is called a spirometry test. Test results can help your doctor find out if you have this lung disease and help determine how well your treatment is working.

Talk with your doctor and health plan to find out about what other services are available. Many health plans offer additional support and resources for patients with COPD. These additional services may be educational materials (online and in print), classes or support groups, or phone counseling.

What do the stars mean?

The scores show how well each health plan did at making sure patients, age 40 or older and newly diagnosed with COPD, got a spirometry test to see how well their lungs take in and release air. A higher score means more patients got the right care at the right time.

The scores are based on information from at least 30 health plan member administrative records in 2023.