CONQUEST
Collaboration On Quality Improvement Initiative for Achieving Excellence in Standards of COPD Care
Keywords
Patient-reported outcome, patient-reported information, clinical decision support, primary care, quality standards, integrated care, COPD
Types of Research
Practice-based research; dissemination and implementation research
Summary
The CONQUEST Quality Improvement Program (QIP) will be innovative in its development of a central set of quality standards (QS) for global COPD care, and in its approach to characterizing target patient groups and their clinical management. The goal of the CONQUEST QIP is to bolster the identification of modifiable high-risk COPD patients, embed and promote adherence to clinical guidelines in routine clinical practice, and optimize patient outcomes.The four quality standards include:
• QS 1: Identification of COPD target population
• QS 2: Assessment of disease and quantification of future risk
• QS 3: Non-pharmacological and pharmacological intervention
• QS 4: Appropriate follow-up
Significance
COPD is a chronic lung disease characterized by a progressive deterioration in lung function and airflow limitation. Despite opportunities for prevention and treatment, COPD remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and death globally. COPD increases the risk of developing other chronic respiratory and cardiovascular conditions and imposes substantial socioeconomic impact and reduction in quality of life.
Impact
The vision of CONQUEST is to drive long-term positive changes in the management of patients with modifiable high-risk COPD and aims to address some of the challenges and barriers of implementing quality improvement initiatives in primary care.
Translational Science Benefits Model* Benefits | ||
| Demonstrated: Benefits are those that have been observed and verifiable. Potential: Benefits are those logically expected with moderate to high confidence | ||
| Embed identification, assessment of disease status, optimization of pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, and appropriate follow-up of targeted COPD patients into routine care. Potential |  | Therapeutic Procedures |
| Deliver evidence-based, globally applicable standards and guideline-led clinical decision-making to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for patients with modifiable but high-risk COPD. Potential |  | Health Care Quality |
| Strengthen the identification of modifiable high-risk COPD patients. Potential | | Health Care Quality |
| Better management for modifiable high-risk patients may result in improved health outcomes including reduced exacerbation rates, reduction in COPD-related hospital admissions and reduction in major adverse respiratory and cardiovascular events. Potential | | Disease Prevention and Reduction; Life Expectancy and Quality of Life |
| Address challenges and barriers of implementing quality improvement initiatives in primary care to ensure evidence-based COPD care is available to all through their primary care practice. Potential | | Health Care Delivery |
| Targeting care for this population of patients will present opportunities for clinicians to assess and treat other co-morbidities, and recommend vaccination for influenza, pneumococcal infection, and COVID-19. Potential | | Disease Prevention and Reduction |
| If CONQUEST is successful in reducing hospital admissions and other health events, healthcare costs will be reduced for this patient population. Potential |  | Societal & Financial Costs of Illness |
*The Translational Science Benefits Model is a framework designed to help public health and clinical scientists demonstrate the impact of their work in the real world. The Translational Science Benefits Model and Translating for Impact Toolkit © 2017-2023, created by the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and available at translationalsciencebenefitsmodel.wustl.edu, is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Implications for Reducing Health Disparities
This project aims to address some of the challenges and barriers of implementing quality improvement initiatives in primary care. The promotion of expert and guideline-led care across an international collaborative network aims to reduce exacerbation frequency and improve healthcare outcomes.
Lessons Learned
One of the key insights from CONQUEST was the extent to which patients lack awareness about their respiratory conditions. Many participants were unaware they had been diagnosed with COPD, and often reported having “no breathing problems” — even while actively using oxygen therapy. These findings highlight a significant gap in patient understanding and underscore the importance of incorporating accessible, ongoing education as part of COPD care and outreach. Future interventions must account for this disconnect to ensure patients are empowered to recognize symptoms, understand their diagnosis, and engage meaningfully in disease management.Products
CONQUEST: a QIP for Patients with Modifiable High-Risk COPD | PROM (publication)
2023 CONQUEST Programme Overview Information Slides.pptx (presentation)