ABSTRACT
1. Introduction: Asthma causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. COVID-19 scenario has revealed lacks in the current model of asthma management in Primary Care (PC). 2. Aims and objectives: The aim was to build a reference framework and address patients' needs to help asthma management improvement in a COVID-19 scenario. 3. Method(s): A scientific committee from the Spanish Respiratory Group in PC (GRAP) defined an evidence-based gold standard model for asthma care pathway including: suspected asthma, confirmed asthma, asthma follow-up, asthma exacerbations and special situations in asthma. Multidisciplinary teams (family doctors, PC nurses, practice clerks, and community pharmacists) were recruited from 17 PC settings in 7 Spanish regions to characterise their local asthma care pathway and to identify room for improvement in different areas according to previously defined gold-standards. A national online Digital Innovation Laboratory was held with representatives of the local teams to prioritise areas of improvement in terms of clinical impact and to co-design action plans. 4. Result(s): 43 to-be-improved areas in asthma care pathways were identified, classified into different categories. Continuing care, collaborative work between Primary and Secondary care, availability of qualified healthcare staff, data recording and management, digital transformation and patient empowerment were some of the areas to prioritize. 5. Conclusion(s): Multidisciplinary pre-structured team work with Digital Innovation Laboratory support could help to redesign the asthma patient's pathway and to improve the effective asthma management in a COVID-19 scenario.
ABSTRACT
Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in Spain. In 2019, the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC), the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMERGEN), the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG) and the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) drafted a document laying down the criteria for referral and action guidelines in the diagnosis, control and monitoring of the asthmatic patient to facilitate ongoing care and improved attention in every setting. The new circumstances derived from the Covid-19 pandemic have demanded that some of the recommendations of the previous edition be updated and adapted to the new healthcare situation. © 2021 Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica (SEPAR)