Michael Schatz, MD

A health insurance claims-based risk assessment tool to predict patients’ first severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation has been developed and validated.

The ratio of controller to total asthma medications can be calculated using 1 or 2 quarters of data; high versus low ratios differentiate patient characteristics.

Asthma-specific quality of life and a history of acute episodes can be used together to identify risks of subsequent acute exacerbations.