Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study the impact of diagnostic error on outcomes for pulmonary patients and the use of lung-function testing in primary care.
The Reducing Diagnostic Error to Improve Patient Safety in COPD and Asthma (REDEFINE) study is a three-year clinical trial that will enroll 60 primary care providers and 400 adults who have a diagnosis of asthma and/or COPD but have not had spirometry testing.
One group will receive spirometry testing and be provided with recommended patient education from trained community health workers around the time of their primary care visit. Participants in a control group will receive usual care and education from community health workers, but will not undergo spirometry testing.
