New initiative aims to tackle bronchiectasis underdiagnosis in America
· News-MedicalThe American Thoracic Society (ATS) today announced a major quality improvement initiative aimed at tackling the persistent and widespread underdiagnosis of bronchiectasis in the United States. As the world's leading medical society dedicated to accelerating the advancement of global respiratory health, the ATS is uniquely positioned to lead this hypothesis-driven initiative. The intiative is made possible through an independent research grant from Insmed Incorporated, a people-first global biopharmaceutical company striving to deliver first- and best-in-class therapies to transform the lives of patients facing serious diseases. The ATS will solely design, lead, and execute all aspects of the initiative, drawing upon the expertise of multidisciplinary membership in respiratory medicine.
Bronchiectasis – a chronic, progressive lung disease characterized by permanent widening of the airways – affects a significant and likely underestimated number of Americans. Despite its serious impact on patients' quality of life, it is hypothesized that bronchiectasis is frequently underdiagnosed, as its symptoms often overlap with other respiratory diseases like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), delaying appropriate treatment and worsening outcomes. This quality improvement study seeks to investigate the true scope of the problem and drive meaningful, lasting change in how the disease is identified and managed.
A multi-site study with national reach
From data to action: A roadmap for change
The initiative is structured around four key goals to be achieved over a 36-month period:
- The initiative will begin by identifying potential misdiagnosis patterns, using structured EHR data and, at select sites, AI-assisted tools, to determine how many patients currently diagnosed with COPD or asthma may actually have bronchiectasis.
- Alongside this, the initiative will work to understand the exacerbation burden by characterizing patients with frequent respiratory exacerbations and assessing whether bronchiectasis, chronic infections, or underlying etiologies have been appropriately evaluated.
- Building on these insights, the initiative will pilot scalable solutions by co-designing and testing practical interventions –including EHR-based prompts, point-of-care clinical tools, and educational outreach such as continuing medical education (CME) modules.
- Finally, findings will be broadly disseminated to clinicians and health systems nationwide through a variety of educational resources and national platforms.
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