This week, the ATS participated in a stakeholder workshop on the NIH campus in Maryland to measure progress on the COPD National Action Plan. The meeting featured updates from the five key agencies that lead implementation of the Plan at the federal level including NHLBI, the Veterans Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The federal panel was followed by a panel of representatives of national organizations, including the ATS, American Lung Association, and COPD Foundation who discussed how these groups are moving the Plan forward through advocacy, development of tools for patients and caregivers and, in the case of ATS, advocacy towards the creation of a COPD program at CDC, and patient access to pulmonary rehabilitation therapy and development of a clinical practice guideline on patient access to supplemental oxygen. The final panel discussed regional initiatives to implement the COPD National Action Plan, including raising awareness through social media and a COPD Caregiver’s toolkit. Workshop participants then reviewed and provided feedback on a proposed model to track progress of the Plan’s implementation through a clearinghouse of stakeholder initiatives.