National COPD conference summary.

The first National COPD Conference, sponsored by the US COPD Coalition was held in Arlington, Virginia on November 14-15, 2003. The theme for the conference was developed around the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Healthy People 2010 goals for COPD and included plenary speeches, roundtable discussions, abstracts, and workshops on spirometry, patient/physician education materials, and home monitoring/telemetry. The goal was to bring together a multidisciplinary group to identify important issues relating to COPD in the United States, specifically the barriers to a wider recognition of the disease, and to develop an orchestrated action plan. Over 500 scientists, clinicians, respiratory therapists, nurses, patients, government officials, and representatives from pharmaceutical companies participated. This summary provides the recommendations from the conference that will be used to develop an action plan for the US COPD Coalition. It includes actions proposed by plenary speakers, roundtable faculty and conference participants.