Practice Reflections: Helping GPs Improve COPD Care
06 Nov 2025
However, accurate diagnosis can be challenging in general practice, as clinical features and chest X-rays alone are insufficient—high-quality spirometry is essential.
To support GPs, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) has introduced Practice Reflections: COPD, a quality improvement initiative designed to provide personalised insights to clinicians.
Each participating GP will receive a confidential, tailored report based on their own MBS data, showing how often office spirometry is used compared with peers. Importantly, this is not an audit or assessment; the data is for self-directed reflection, helping GPs understand their practice patterns in context, whether spirometry is performed onsite, outsourced, or conducted in hospital.
By reviewing these reports, GPs can identify opportunities to better align care with best-practice COPD management guidelines, address barriers in their local context, and consider achievable improvements. The COPD Clinical Care Standard complements the report, guiding GPs on essential care, including confirming diagnosis with spirometry and reviewing patients managed without prior testing.
“This Practice Reflections report is an opportunity to pause, review and reflect on our role in diagnosing and managing COPD, and ultimately to support better patient care,” says Associate Professor Liz Marles, GP and Clinical Director at ACSQHC.
All qualifying GPs will automatically receive their Practice Reflections: COPD report in November 2025. More information is available on the ACSQHC website.
Source: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2025
