In this episode of Quality Matters, Tonya Winders, President and CEO of the Global Allergy and Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP), joins host Andy Reynolds to unpack the diagnosis and care gaps that plague asthma treatment—from delayed access to spirometry, to underuse of biologics. Tonya explains what high-quality, patient-centered asthma care requires, and what health care leaders can do to close that gap.

Tonya also discusses: 

• Why a definitive diagnosis of asthma isn’t necessarily the norm.
• What the “three-legged stool” of asthma care looks like.
• Why patient-centricity is essential for chronic disease management.
• How new treatments like biologics are changing what’s possible in asthma treatment.

This podcast is a must-listen for anyone working to redesign care delivery and improve outcomes for patients with chronic respiratory illness.

Key Quote:

“We are finding in that moderate to severe category, when they are diagnosed accurately and get appropriate access to targeted treatments, about one in three go into a clinical remission, where they have no exacerbations, no symptoms, no hospital, no ER, no oral corticosteroids, no use of short acting bronchodilator. 

This is something that, I have to tell you, I never dreamt would come in my career. So, it's very exciting, especially for those that have had the opportunity to access these miracle drugs—that’s the term they use, miracle drugs—that have changed their lives and given them the freedom to breathe.”

Tonya Winders

Time Stamps:

1. (04:00) Diagnostic Delays: Spirometry and Systemic Barriers
2. (05:44) How Age and Comorbidities Obscure Asthma
3. (08:00)  Challenges of Misdiagnosis and Access to Specialists
4. (10:28) The Three Legs of Effective Asthma Care
5. (18:20) NCQA’s Measurement Strategy for Asthma

Links:

NCQA White Paper: Improving Outcomes for People with Asthma

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