Measuring the success of treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease--patient, physician and healthcare payer perspectives.

The success of treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is evaluated by measuring the impact on a range of health outcomes. However, outcome measures differ in their relative importance to the various stakeholder groups. Patients are most interested in the impact on quality of life and on mortality, while physicians also value information about the effect of treatments on lung function and disease progression. In contrast to patients and physicians, healthcare payers take a population perspective, and need to balance the health gains achieved and the costs of treatment. If the management of COPD is to be improved, it is important, first, to understand the outcomes of importance to each relevant stakeholder group, and then second, to refocus the measures in terms that all stakeholders can value.