CHESTGuidelines & Topic CollectionsTimely Diagnosis for ILD

Bridging Specialties™

Timely Diagnosis for ILD

Clinicians are focused on one mission—better outcomes for their patients. That’s why CHEST and Three Lakes Foundation joined together to launch a collaborative initiative that leverages the combined strengths of different specialties to tackle a shared goal: shortening the time to diagnosis for interstitial lung diseases (ILDs).

Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD brings together pulmonologists and primary care physicians to define a clearer clinician-guided approach to diagnosis for ILDs like pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

In partnership with

Closing the diagnosis gap for patients with ILD

Elevating a rare disease: With ILDs affecting 400,000 people in the US, the likelihood of a primary care physician encountering a patient with an ILD is rare—meaning ILDs are often overlooked as a potential diagnosis.

Difficulty in diagnosing: ILDs like PF present with ubiquitous symptoms like dyspnea, cough, and fatigue, which are also common in asthma, COPD, and cardiac diseases. In a survey of 50 patients living with PF, the majority of respondents said their diagnosis took 2 or more years.

Why early diagnosis matters: There is no cure for ILDs that cause lung inflammation and/or permanent scars, but treatments can slow progression and lessen the severity of symptoms, allowing patients to live longer with a higher quality of life.

Expert-based clinical resources

NOW AVAILABLE: CLINICIAN TOOLKIT

Access tools to help shorten the time to diagnosis

Our ILD Clinician Toolkit contains specific resources focusing on the steps to take when a patient displays signs of ILD. You’ll find expert-created tools like:

an ILD-specific patient questionnaire that you can download and use in your practice,
an e-learning module reviewing key symptoms (like crackles on auscultation) and suggested patient workups,
a decision-making tool that walks you through three patient scenarios,
an interactive story where you choose the actions taken by a patient and learn about the impact of each decision, and much more.

ACCESS THE TOOLKIT

WHITE PAPER

Factors driving delays in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Read the results of the clinical survey among pulmonologists and primary care physicians that assessed knowledge and practice of ILD patient care. Learn how we can change the trajectory of diagnosis, treatment, and care for patients with ILDs. Fill out the form for access to this exclusive white paper.

PODCAST

Overcoming barriers to diagnosing ILDs

Listen to three experts from the fields of primary care medicine and pulmonary medicine discuss the barriers to diagnosing ILDs and how we can overcome them. Get the key points from the discussion in the podcast recap here, or hear the full conversation on ReachMD.

Access the full podcast on ReachMD »

”Patients first see their family medicine or primary care clinicians, and, all too often, the most complex lung diseases present in ways that are indistinguishable from more common conditions like asthma and COPD. Bringing together experts in both fields will yield the best results in creating a path to diagnosis.”

– William Lago, MD, Family Medicine Physician

”While interstitial lung diseases do not affect a substantial amount of the population, those touched by the disease are impacted tremendously. Any delay in receiving a diagnosis is time that could be dedicated to finding a treatment therapy that can improve their quality of life.”

– Andrew H. Limper, MD, FCCP, Pulmonologist

”Closing the gap in diagnosing ILDs like pulmonary fibrosis is critical so therapies can be initiated to manage the symptoms and progression of the disease.”

– Mary Beth Scholand, MD, FCCP, Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic

See the latest developments

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Pulmonary and Primary Care Experts Aim to Reduce Time to Diagnose Complex Lung Diseases

May 17, 2022 | CHEST and Three Lakes Foundation announce the members of the steering committee for Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD. The expert committee is composed of primary care physicians, pulmonologists, and a nursing professional.

Respiratory Organizations Tackle the Challenge of Reducing Delays in Diagnosing Complex Lung Diseases

April 18, 2022 | Three Lakes Foundation and CHEST announce their collaboration to build a multiphase educational initiative aiming to reduce the time it takes to diagnose patients with interstitial lung diseases.

IN THE NEWS

Three Lakes Foundation and CHEST Collaborating to Speed Up Diagnosis of IPF

Rare Disease Advisor | Members of the expert steering committee share more about the Bridging Specialties initiative.

Dr. Mary Beth Scholand Discusses the Partnership Between CHEST and Three Lakes Foundation

Rare Care Podcast | Mary Beth Scholand, MD, FCCP, Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at the University of Utah, discusses the opportunity to bring together experts in the fields of primary care medicine and pulmonary medicine to diagnose and treat patients with ILDs as quickly as possible.

Three Lakes, CHEST Team Up to Shorten Lung Disease Diagnosis Time

Pulmonary Fibrosis News | Three Lakes Foundation and CHEST will partner to heighten health care providers’ awareness of interstitial lung diseases. Of the known ILD conditions, the most common is pulmonary fibrosis, which is diagnosed in about 30,000 to 40,000 people a year.

Get the latest updates straight to your inbox

Want to keep up to date on Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD? Sign up, and be the first to get the clinician tool kit and other resources to identify high-risk patients with ILDs—all with the goal of improving patient care and quality of life.

Here’s what’s coming up next:

Podcast episode summarizing the clinical needs assessment of ILD patient care
Clinician tool kit containing research-backed resources to better identify ILDs
Experiential, learning-based game focused on ILDs

Support initiatives like this | The CHEST Foundation funds programs that help patients access the care they need. DONATE TO THE FOUNDATION »

STEERING COMMITTEE

Daniel F. Dilling, MD, FCCP

Daniel F. Dilling, MD, FCCP

Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Loyola University Chicago

Jessica Glennie, APRN, MSN

Jessica Glennie, APRN, MSN

Nurse Practitioner, Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic, Cleveland Clinic

Timothy Hernandez, MD

Timothy Hernandez, MD

Internal Medicine Physician, Managing Partner, Pasteur Medical Associates, San Antonio, TX

Corey D. Kershaw, MD, FCCP

Corey D. Kershaw, MD, FCCP

Associate Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Tejaswini Kulkarni, MD, MPH, FCCP

Tejaswini Kulkarni, MD, MPH, FCCP

Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Program, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

William Lago, MD

William Lago, MD

Family Medicine Physician, Wooster Family Health Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Andrew H. Limper, MD, FCCP

Andrew H. Limper, MD, FCCP

Director, Thoracic Disease Research Unit, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN

Anoop M. Nambiar, MD, MS, FCCP

Anoop M. Nambiar, MD, MS, FCCP

Founding Director, Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Mary Beth Scholand, MD, FCCP

Mary Beth Scholand, MD, FCCP

Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

Learn more about the Steering Committee members »

About Three Lakes Foundation

Three Lakes Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to serving as a catalyst for uniting research, industries, and philanthropy in pulmonary fibrosis. We connect entrepreneurs, advocates, and institutions to an innovation ecosystem that will transform our approach to improve time to diagnosis and accelerate new therapies. To learn more, visit threelakesfoundation.org.