Understanding and Personalizing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

This activity was originally presented as a part of Directions in Pharmacy 2025.

Program Description

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with significant gaps in diagnosis, treatment optimization, and disease management. As the roles of biomarkers and eosinophilia in COPD progression expand, pharmacists are poised to play more crucial roles in identifying patients at risk for exacerbations. This activity will review the evolving landscape of COPD management, highlighting the latest Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guideline recommendations and strategies to personalize treatment plans through phenotyping and providing vaccine recommendations. The discussion will focus on pharmacist-led interventions to optimize pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies while ensuring adherence to guideline-directed care. Participants will gain actionable insights to improve patient outcomes and advance the role of pharmacists in COPD care.

Target audience: Community, retail, and health system pharmacists

Type of activity: Application
Release date: June 16, 2025
Expiration date: June 16, 2026

Time to complete activity: 1.0 hour

Learner level: Foundational, Intermediate
Fee: Free

Educational Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Explain the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Examine unmet needs and the burden of disease management
• Identify best practices for COPD key treatment guidelines, including vaccine recommendations for vaccine-preventable illnesses in patients with COPD
• Apply patient-centered strategies for personalized treatment and management plans for patients with COPD, including patient and health care provider shared decision-making, strategies to improve patient adherence and reduce vaccine hesitancy, and available patient phenotyping options